Spanish society up in arms over sadistic bull killing secretly filmed by Spanish animal rights group
O.pearl
'Spanish society has been painfully examining its conscience this week after
Spanish animal activists from Animal Equality managed to secretly film the slow
and agonising death of the bull known as 'el Toro de la Vega', who after being
chased for 30 minutes by a crowd of 300 armed with spears was pierced by a
lance and then repeatedly stabbed for over 5 minutes in a barbaric yet traditional
'fiesta' in the town of Tordesillas, Spain on 15 September.
In the closely-guarded festival, usually off-limits to outsiders and TV cameras,
the images filmed by Animal Equality of the bull Moscatel in his dying moments,
drenched in blood and staring bewilderdly at the baying crowd surrounding him
has created a storm in Spanish society within the last week, reaching the front
pages of 'El Pais' and '20 minutos' newspapers and being broadcast to 5 million
viewers in the half-time interval of the match between Real Madrid and Bayern
Munich.
Spanish MP Joan Herrera posed a question to President Jose Luis Rodrigo
Zapatero in parliament on 16 September, asking him "until when" he was going
to allow festivals such as el Toro de la Vega to continue, which qualify as "sadistic
entertainment". He asked for the festival to be prohibited, saying that what "some
call tradition" is "animal abuse".
But yesterday the Spanish parliament voted by a majority against a proposal to
take away the title of "Fiesta of National Tourist Interest" from celebrations in
which there is considered to be animal abuse. Opposing the proposal were the
PP and PSOE parties.
Animal Equality filmed:
. The bull Moscatel lying with a lance in his side, dripping blood, surrounded
by a crowd.
. A young lad attempting to pull out the lance but failing.
. Another youth joining the first and both pulling the lance out together.
. A third man approaching Moscatel and stabbing repeatedly at the bull's neck
with a knife.
. A crowd surrounding Moscatel and covering him with a sheet, while his
attackers stab him to death, taking 5 minutes to do so.
Sharon Nunez Gough, international spokesperson for Animal Equality says:
Animal Equality is an animal rights organization that considers that the Toro de la
Vega must be abolished, which is the reason why we went to Tordesillas to try
to film.
The images Animal Equality activists were able to film have been on the news of
most Spanish channels for days, they have created a great amount of opposition
to events such as the killing of the Toro de Vega.
Moscatel was in agony bleeding to death while the people in Tordesillas
intimidated and threatened anyone they saw with a camera, they were aware of
what would happen if the images were shown publicly.
We musn't forget that just like Moscatel, millions of animals suffer and are killed
daily in slaughterhouses and laboratories. We only consider we have the right to
use them for our benefit simply because they belong to a different species, even
though all of us are sentient beings with the capacity to feel emotions and
sensations such as fear, pain, or pleasure and we all have our own desires, wants
and needs. As such, all animals deserve respect.
Notes to Editors:
. Watch the video http://vimeo.com/6595048
. See the selection of still images http://www.flickr.com/photos/igualdadanimal