Horror at Spanish festival where live animals are set on fire: Protesters clash with police in bid to stop cruel tradition.
Police arrests animal rights activist
The Daily Mail - This is not some apocalyptic vision from medieval folklore, but the Spanish festival where live bulls are set on fire and sent to charge about a village's streets for entertainment.
Disturbing new images have emerged of this annual Spanish bull burning festival which animal rights campaigners are demanding be banned.
There were some ugly scenes too among the crowds as animal rights activists clashed with police in a desperate bid to bring a halt to the perceived barbarity.
(NOTE - The Daily Mail uses the words "perceived barbarity".
Even when graphically reporting what is obviously an act of extreme cruelty, they use the word "perceived". In a multicultural world of moral relativism all cultures are just as good, and no matter what people do, if it's done because of tradition or religion, then it's OK. The Daily Mail choice of words implies that this act of cruelty may be perceived as such by only some of us, who think animals are sentient beings with rights. Blogger)
The Daily Mail continues with their report:
The Joy of the Bull - or Toro Jubilo festival - is one of the 'cultural' highlights of the entertainment calendar for residents in the Medieval village of Medinaceli, in the province of Soria, north east of Madrid.
Every year, from around four centuries, people flock to watch a young bull be dragged into a makeshift ring before its body is covered with mud to protect it from burns. Then it is pinned to the floor, while men strap wooden stakes doused in flammable chemicals to its horns, and set it on fire. Then local men show their bravery by tormenting the animal.
More than 1,500 people crowded behind barriers and strained for a view of the cruel spectacle. A bullring is constructed in the main square and sand scattered on the floor before several bonfires are built in preparation for the arrival of the bull.
Every year, from around four centuries, people flock to watch a young bull be dragged into a makeshift ring before its body is covered with mud to protect it from burns. Then it is pinned to the floor, while men strap wooden stakes doused in flammable chemicals to its horns, and set it on fire. Then local men show their bravery by tormenting the animal.
More than 1,500 people crowded behind barriers and strained for a view of the cruel spectacle. A bullring is constructed in the main square and sand scattered on the floor before several bonfires are built in preparation for the arrival of the bull.
After nightfall, the fires were lit using paraffin and the three-year-old bull was dragged in on a rope held by many men dressed in grey uniforms. It is tied to a post by its horns and a plank of wood attached to a metal bar doused in pitch - a highly combustible mixture of turpentine and sulphur.
Fiercely hot sparks and embers drip from the burning torches onto the bewildered animal. The distressed bull is then released, thrashing around the ring to the cheers of the crowds. Members of the public are seen jumping into the ring and taunting the bull - adding to its terror and confusion.
Gasping for air, the bull finally reaches a state of exhaustion after nearly 45 minutes of torment and is soon dragged out the ring by villagers to be butchered. The men in the grey uniforms are awarded pieces of meat from the animal for their 'bravery'.
Authorities in the Spanish regions of Leon and Castile have designated the festival a special cultural status.
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ABOUT CATTLE
Among the 9 smartest animals on Earth. Cows seem like placid animals merely concerned with chewing their cud. As it turns out, they possess a rich and complex emotional life. The Times reports that scientists have found that cows have friends and enemies. Further, “Cows are also capable of feeling strong emotions such as pain, fear and even anxiety — they worry about the future.”
Source -
The hidden lives of cows
Cows are as diverse as cats, dogs, and people: Some are bright; others are slow learners. Some are bold and adventurous; others are shy and timid. Some are friendly and considerate; others are bossy and devious.
According to research, cows are generally very intelligent animals who can remember things for a long time. Animal behaviorists have found that cows interact in socially complex ways, developing friendships over time and sometimes holding grudges against other cows who treat them badly.
Cows express deep feelings for their babies
These gentle giants mourn the deaths of and even separation from those they love, even shedding tears over their loss. The mother-calf bond is particularly strong, and there are countless reports of mother cows who continue to frantically call and search for their babies after the calves have been taken away and sold to veal or beef farms.
There is scientific evidence of their intelligence
Research has shown that cows clearly understand cause-and-effect relationships—a sure sign of advanced cognitive abilities. For example, cows can learn how to push a lever to operate a drinking fountain when they’re thirsty or to press a button with their heads to release grain when they’re hungry.
Researchers have found that not only can cows figure out problems, they also, like humans, enjoy the intellectual challenge and get excited when they find a solution.
They have complex social relationships
A herd of cows is very much like a pack of wolves, with alpha animals and complex social dynamics. Each cow can recognize more than 100 members of the herd, and social relationships are very important to them.
Cows will consistently choose leaders for their intelligence, inquisitiveness, self-confidence, experience, and good social skills, while bullying, selfishness, size, and strength are not recognized as suitable leadership qualities.
Raising cows in unnatural conditions, such as crowded feedlots, is very stressful to them because it upsets their hierarchy. University of Saskatchewan researcher Jon Watts notes that cows who are kept in groups of more than 200 on commercial feedlots become stressed and constantly fight for dominance. (Feedlots in America hold thousands of cows at a time.)
Cows understand death and are naturally afraid of it
Like all animals, cows value their lives and don’t want to die. Stories abound of cows who have gone to extraordinary lengths to fight for their lives.
A cow named Suzie was about to be loaded onto a freighter bound for Venezuela when she turned around, ran back down the gangplank, and leaped into the river. Even though she was pregnant (or perhaps because she was pregnant), she managed to swim all the way across the river, eluding capture for several days. She was rescued by PETA and sent to a sanctuary.
When workers at a slaughterhouse in Massachusetts went on break, Emily the cow made a break of her own. She took a tremendous leap over a 5-foot gate and escaped into the woods, surviving for several weeks during New England’s snowiest winter in a decade, cleverly refusing to touch the hay put out to lure her back to the slaughterhouse.
When she was eventually caught by the owners of a nearby sanctuary, public outcry demanded that the slaughterhouse allow the sanctuary to buy her for one dollar. Emily lived out the rest of her life in Massachusetts until she died of cancer in 2004. Her life is a testament to the fact that eating meat means eating animals who don’t want to die.
Source
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The meat people eat
comes from tortured animals
comes from tortured animals
Watch video From Farm to Fridge
produced by Mercy for Animals organization
Mercy for Animals
Undercover investigations
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