Herewith a photograph of a mobile bullring photograph made 6 July
2006.
Portugal - Algarve
A mobile bullring is erected in front of the redundant €34.600.000
Estádio Algarve between Faro and Loulé.
The picture unites the perfect examples of traditional bloodshed
and contemporary waste of indispensable funds on the Euro 2004
football games.
ANIMAL Miguel Moutinho pt
June 27, 2006
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
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.
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.
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.
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