www.bullfightingfree.org

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sd4FyPOuCEI
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EzQ_NBV5Z4g
 


El toro by Rockband PRODEMO text



ANIMAL Miguel Moutinho pt



Please visit
BullfightingFree.org and support the new campaign against bullfights by the League Against Cruel Sports to get tourists from all over the world boycotting the cities and villages across the world which have permanent bullrings and an on-going bullfighting activity, and which depend on the money generated by British tourists and other foreign tourists
 
ANIMAL has been campaigning against bullfights in Portugal for 12 years, now. As Portuguese anti-bullfighting campaigners, we firmly believe that this outstanding campaign by the League may be dramatically helpful to end bullfights, namely in Portugal. When you visit Portugal (particularly, the Algarve, which is highly dependent on tourism), whether on holiday or for professional reasons, please be sure to boycott the Portuguese cities/villages mentioned by the League at http://www.bullfightingfree.org/portugal.html and be sure to write to the Mayor of the city/village you are boycotting to tell her/him why you are not going there. Please visit also the League´s anti-bullfighting campaign´s website BullfightingFree.org and find out what else you can do to help end bullfights, namely in Portugal. ANIMAL believes that this is the campaign that the world´s anti-bullfighting movement was missing and that in Portugal may very well work as a tremendous economic blow against bullfights. Bullfights are a bloody business, so, along with all the other strategies and campaigns that we need to undertake to end them, we also need to make them a bad business and the worst investment for any city, village or town. Please help the League Against Cruel Sports to make this happen. Visit BullfightingFree.org and share it with all your contacts – the more people know about how they can easily but effectively help to end bullfights, the sooner will these actually end.
 


Animal.org.pt :: Save the Bulls from the Bullies

*.*.*



 
----- Original Message -----
From: Maria Lopes
Sent: Monday, June 26, 2006 7:19 PM
Subject: Expose about bullfights published in a Horse Magazize of New Zealand

Dear Friends,
 
15 days ago we came across an article about Lusitano's horses that also talked about Portuguese bullfights. The paragraph was a piece of misinformation so we complained to the editor. He replied to us apologizing and informing us that he had taken that part of the article. We thanked him and offered to write an article exposing bullfights which he accepted. Below is the article that was published today.
 
For the Animals
Maria Lopes
 

 


Horses - the forgotten victims of bullfighting


bullfighting1
This photo is from 2001 in the bullring of Madrid.


What is a bullfight, and who suffers in this bloody so-called sport?

by Maria Lopes

Co-ordinator of the International Movement Against Bullfights
Article ©
www.iwab.org 2006
This article may not be reproduced in any form without prior permission.


bullfighting2
A horse is blind-folded before being used in a bullfight.

In Anglo-Saxon countries it is regarded as a sport, perhaps due to lack of knowledge.

It is, after all, banned throughout the UK and the Commonwealth nations, as well as most of Europe. In countries where bullfighting is allowed it is increasingly becoming recognised as sheer barbarity. This savagery involves two beautiful animals, bulls and horses. While the bulls are guaranteed to die, the future of the horses is often no brighter.

Bullfights take place in three European countries, France, Portugal and Spain and in some parts of Latin America. In some states of North America a form of bullfight is permitted but the animal is covered with velcro and the spears used are imitation.

It's commonly believed that in Portuguese bullfights bulls or horses don't suffer unlike the Spanish versions. This is unfortunately a myth since the suffering is the same in both bullfight styles.

The only difference is that in Spanish bullrings the bull is killed in the ring instead of in the slaughterhouse when the "entertainment" is over.

Every year more than 50,000 bulls are killed in bullfights in Europe alone. Countless horses die or suffer severe injuries.

Bullfighters claim that bulls bred for bullfights are aggressive and fearsome animals. This is also untrue. They fight because they are fighting for their lives.


bullfighting4
This photo was taken during a bullfight in Spain. The horse was killed.


But bulls are not the only creatures to suffer in bullrings. The tormented bull does not understand that it is the man on the horse's back that is causing his pain, only that he is in agony. He therefore sees the horse as his enemy as much as the man.

It's not unusual for horses used in bullfights to be so badly gored by the bulls that they have to be killed, but only after they have been dragged from the ring and the view of the spectators.

Spanish bullfights also employ "picadors", men on horseback armed with spears.

These horses are often gored even though they are protected by what is termed a "peto", or a protective cape. These petos often do little more than hide the horses wounds.

bullfighting3
Scene from a Portuguese bullfight.

The horses are blind-folded to prevent them from becoming terror stricken at the charge of the bull. It is commonly believed that their ears are stuffed with cottonwool to prevent them from panicking and their vocal cords cut to stop them screaming with fear at the bull's attack.

As little as 12 days ago in Madrid another horse was gored by a bull and had to be killed.

This is the fate of these beautiful animals. To be used to entertain a crowd that lusts for blood and claims that bullfighting is a tradition and "cultural heritage".

What about the brave matadors, picadors and their ilk? Bullfighters are rarely injured and seldom killed in the ring. With their armoury of weapons to weaken the bull until it can no longer fight, their lives are not at great risk. In fact, in the last 50 years only 10 bullfighters have been killed worldwide.

Should you ever find yourself in a country where bullfighting is practiced, please do not be tempted to attend one of these sadistic displays. The continuation of bullfighting depends on government subsidies and the tourist industry. Don't be an accomplice to this savagery by supporting it with your dollars.

Further information:
Take a look at the
International Movement Against Bullfights website.
We suggest you read the "
ongoing campaigns" section.

26.6.06

http://www.horsetalk.co.nz/features/bullfighting.shtml


*.*.*

Subject: THE BULL'S EYE OF THE EUROPEAN UNION
Date: May 17, 2006 5:49:43 PM GMT+01:00
To: miguel.moutinho@animal.org.pt


THE BULL'S EYE OF THE EUROPEAN UNION

Here - in this bullring - bullfights will be held. Here the audience will applaud the people who slowly and deliberately inflict anger, pain and subsequent death on an animal.
Why can that happen in this European country?
If I would step into a Dutch meadow and perform the traditional bullfight on a bull, I would be lynched - or if the police is fast - arrested for sadistic acts inflicted on an animal. You are a sadist if you enjoy inflicting pain. Sadism is a certified mental disorder. So bullfights are a very sick tradition.
And still the European Union allows such traditions.

I want you to know that this is one of the reasons why many Dutchmen voted against the European Constitution.

If EU Constitution Art III-121 would concern human rights there would be no leeway for culturally based violence against people. It is the spirit of this article to protect animals. However, the letter of this article condones every animal abuse in the name of "cultural heritage". The bulls cannot vote against this crippled law, so they depend on us to fight the injustice of it. It would grace the EU if it would for once look through a bull’s eyes.

Action Against Poisoning
www.actionagainstpoisoning.com


Pasted Graphic
http://www.stop-corrida.info/

logoflac[1]
http://www.flac-anticorrida.org/


Portugal

MATP – Movimento Anti-Touradas de Portugal : www.matp-online.org
GAIA – Grupo de acção e intervenção ambiental: www.gaia.org
ACÇÃO ANIMAL – Movimento pelo direito à vida animal: www.accaoanimal.com
MIDAS – Movimento internacional defesa animais: www.associacaomidas.com
APAAC – Ass. Protecção animais abandonados Cartaxo: www.apaac.zapto.org
LPDA – Liga portuguesa dos direitos do animal: www.lpda.pt
INFONATURE.ORG – www.infonature.org
IZQC – Instituto zoófilo quinta carbone: www.izqc.com
GLA – Grupo de libertação Animal: www.glanimal.com