People in the Spanish town of San Bartolome de Pinares think it's fun to set a huge bonfire and then force their horses to carry them through it, to "purify" the animal, and prove their own "bravery". Add your name if you want to end this heinous cruelty, NOW!
On the night before the day celebrating Saint Antony the abbot, the patron saint of animals, men light a fire in the town square.
To the side, men wait with their horses, who nervously stamp their feet and strain to get away from the growing flames.
When the fire has reached its crescendo, the men take turns mounting their helpless animals.
Then they force them to gallop up to the inferno and leap through the flames...
"The tradition, which is reported to be 500 years old, is meant to purify and protect the animal for the year ahead," reported The Guardian.
All these horses want to do is love the people they live with.
All they know is obedience and loyalty.
How do these men repay them? By forcing them to endure trauma and risk injury in this foolish ritual.
"There is no logic in forcing these animals into a stressful situation against their own nature," said Juan Ignacio Codina of the Observatory of Justice and Animal Defense.
How would you feel if you were forced to run through a blazing fire, against your will?
Don't you want to stop this cruel, heartless tradition, before any more horses are made to suffer for the entertainment and superstitions of humans?
Then add your name to demand that Carlos García González, Governor of the province of Avila, Spain, where this shameful event is held, take appropriate action to end the cruelty NOW.
