Sunday, January 25, 2009

Bulls, Motorbikes, Who Cares.

BBC NEWS | World | Americas | Bull fighter, 11, aims for record
"The bull-fighting opponents shouldn't stick their nose in things they don't like," he said. "No one is forcing them to watch bull-fights or to keep informed about them. It's as if I told a boy who does motocross not to do it, it's very bothersome."
No it's fucking not. You don't kill the motorbike at the end of a race do you? You don't end a life at the end of the event just for a laugh. My exact worry about animal blood sports like this is that it makes people confused about the value of life, and this is what has happened here. The kid doesn't realise the difference between a bull and a motorbike, he thinks the bull is just another toy for his amusement.

I wasn't sure why they kill the Bull at all so I looked it up on Wikipedia and found a lovely description of what goes on at these things:

In the first stage, the tercio de varas ("the lancing third"), the matador first confronts the bull and observes his behavior in an initial section called suerte de capote. Next, a picador enters the arena on horseback armed with a vara ("lance"). To protect the horse from the bull's horns, the horse is surrounded by a peto — a protective matress like covering. Prior to 1930, the horse did not wear any protection, and the bull would disembowel the horse during this stage. Until this change was instituted, the number of horses killed during a fight was higher than the number of bulls killed. [9]

At this point, the picador stabs a mound of muscle on the bull's neck, weakening the neck muscles and leading to the animal's first loss of blood. The manner in which the bull charges the horse provides important clues to the matador about which side the bull favors. If the picador is successful, the bull will hold its head and horns lower during the following stages of the fight. This makes the bull's charges less dangerous while enabling the matador to perform.

In the next stage, the tercio de banderillas ("the third of flags"), the three banderilleros each attempt to plant two razor sharp barbed sticks (called banderillas) on the bull's flanks, as close as possible to the wound where the picador drew first blood. These further weaken the ridges of neck and shoulder muscle and increases the loss of blood.

In the final stage, the tercio de muerte ("the third of death"), the matador re-enters the ring alone with a small red cape (muleta) and a sword. It is a common misconception that the color red is supposed to anger the bull, despite the fact bulls are colorblind[citation needed] (the real reason that a red colored cape is used is that any blood stains on it will be less noticeable).[citation needed] He uses his cape to attract the bull in a series of passes, demonstrating his control over it by getting especially close. The faena (literally job) is the entire performance with the muleta, which is usually broken down into "tandas" or "series". The faena ends with a final series of passes in which the matador with a muleta attempts to maneuver the bull into a position to stab it between the shoulder blades and through the aorta or heart. The act of thrusting the sword is called an estocada.

Occasionally, if the public or the matador believe that bull has fought bravely, they may petition the president of the plaza to grant the bull an indulto. This is when the bull’s life is spared and allowed to leave the ring alive and return to the ranch where it came from. However, few bulls survive the trip back to the ranch. With no veterinarian services at the plaza, most bulls die either while awaiting transportation or days later after arriving at their original ranch. Death is due to dehydration, infection of the wounds and loss of blood sustained during the fight.
MMMM yes, sounds perfectly suitable and appropriate behaviour for an 11 year old boy. People who defend this kind of crap will go on about "Tradition" and how you can't change things, but they decided in 1930 that they don't have to kill the horse aswell anymore, so why the bull? Why not have the whole stupid dancing around show but like, don't stab the bull in the neck repeatedly? Is a horses life worth more than a bulls?

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