The League Against Cruel Sports has launched a campaign
against bullfighting. After more than 80 years of opposition
to traditional British bloodsports, we believe the time is right
to address another so-called 'sport' which depends on
money that is generated from British tourists

The League opposes all forms of bullfighting, including the
misleadingly named 'bloodless bullfighting'. All bullfighting
is barbaric and inherently cruel in both design and practice.
It can never be justified. We seek a complete end to
bullfighting everywhere in the world.

http://www.bullfightingfree.org

WARNING: This site and its subpages contain very graphic
images and text of animal suffering and abuse that may upset
sensitive viewers.

What is wrong with bullfighting?

Bullfighting is based on stressing, exhausting, injuring
and/or killing bulls, and each of these 'essential' components
required to 'win' the fight against the bull is reason enough to
stop it. Bulls are sentient beings, and those who breed them
have the duty of caring for them. This duty is totally
neglected when breeders force their bulls into the bullring.

This is the 'bottom line' ethical reason for ending it. Of course
there are plenty of powerful 'specific' reasons to seek abolition.

Injury and mutilation

Bull with banderillas
©ADDA

Bull stabbed by picador
©ADDA

Blood on bull's back on the supposedly 'bloodless'
Portuguese-style bullfight
©Miguel Noronha. Provided by the League Against
Cruel Sports

Dying bull about to be mutilated
©ADDA

Stabbed bull about to be killed
©ADDA

Fallen bull about to be killed
©Initiative Anti-Corrida

Child in a 'capea' being trained as bullfighter with
very young bulls.
©Federación de Liaisions Anti-Corrida

Fallen picador's horse
©ADDA

In a typical Spanish-style bullfight, the bull enters the arena
and after being provoked into several charges is approached
by picadores, men on blindfolded horses who drive lances
into its back and neck muscles. This impairs the bull's ability
to lift his head through severe loss of blood. Then come the
banderilleros on foot, who proceed to stab banderillas-
"brightly colored sticks with harpoon points" into its back
to increase even further the pain and loss of blood.

When the bull has been weakened, these banderilleros run
the bull in more circles until it is dizzy and stops chasing.
Finally, the matador appears and, after forcing a few charges
from the exhausted and confused animal, tries to kill the bull
with his sword. If he misses, he stabs the submissive animal
on the back of the neck until it is paralysed.. The dagger is
supposed to cut the spinal cord, but even this can be
blundered, leaving the bull fully conscious when its ears or
tail are cut off as trophies. The bull may then be dragged
away from the arena whilst it is still alive, and butchered out
of sight for its meat to be distributed to the food market.

"Bloodless" fights

During the Course Camarguese, men run in front of the
animal trying to grab the ribbons with a weapon that has a
metallic crochet of 16 points. During this show, the animal
is struck several times with this instrument, causing wounds
in the head or to the eyes.. They need several months to
recover after each of these shows, before they are used again.

In Course Landaise, each cow is put in a metallic box where
men attach a rope to its horns; the other end of the rope is
outside the box from which the animal will be expelled
brutally. In the ring, two or three men pull the cow by its
horns. From behind a wooden barricade, a man pulls the
rope causing violent pain to the cow by banging her head
against the barricade. They may also use a spear to force
the cow to the middle of the ring.

In Portuguese bullfighting, the bull faces the rider who will
stab it with several banderilhas, which are painful and draw
blood. Due to the intense pain, the bull tries without success
to chase the rider in order to defend himself, leading to
suffering for the horse, even if the horns of the bull are
padded. When the bull is exhausted, still with the banderilhas
in it, eight men (forcados) enter the bullring where they assault
the bull grabbing the head and the tail, eventually immobilising
the weakened animal. The bull is then taken to the pen where
it will be left for a few days, suffering with his wounds, until
being slaughtered.

'Cheats'

Bullfighting is obviously not a fair 'fight'. This is not a fight
between a bull and a man, but a fight between a bull and
several men, horses and weapons. In addition, bulls are
often drugged or have their horns altered. One common
illegal practice is to 'shave' the bulls' horns by sawing off
a few inches. This affects their co-ordination and makes
the horns more sensitive to pain.

Other victims

The bulls are not the only victims in the arena. The horses
used in classic Spanish-style are blindfolded so that they
don't become frightened of the charging bull. They are often
accidentally gored, as are some horses in Portuguese-style
bullfights. We should also not forget that, occasionally,
people are also killed in bullfights. In 2004, six people died
in bullfights.

Children

From the age of nine, children are taught the 'art' of torturing
and putting bulls to death in bullfighting schools. As part of
the training, children learn to stab young bulls, which often
suffer a great deal in the process due to the inefficiency of
the pupils.. These schools are subsidised by the French and
Spanish authorities.

In Catalonia, children under 14 are banned from attending
bullfights, but in the rest of Spain there is no such restriction.

Boycott the bloodbath!
http://www.bullfightingfree.org/index.html

What is Bullfighting?
http://www.bullfightingfree.org/whatis.html

What is wrong with Bullfighting?
(this page)

How to abolish Bullfighting
http://www.bullfightingfree.org/abolish.html

What can you do about Bullfighting?
http://www.bullfightingfree.org/whatcanyoudo.html

Latest Bullfighting Campaign news
http://www.bullfightingfree.org/campaignnews.html