The Truth About Bullfighting

Let’s put an to this cruel and barbaric practice

Bullfighting is one of the most brutal and inhumane forms of animal cruelty that inflicts senseless suffering to the animal. Every year, hundreds of thousands of bulls are forced to endure a slow, agonizing death in bullrings around the world.  

Bullfighting is a custom involving matadors who perform in a bullring carrying out various manoeuvres at close range to the bull. The goal is to appear graceful and confident while domineering over the bull. The performance ends with the death of a bull by thrusting a sword into it.

However, these acts are far from graceful and elegant.

Even though many countries have already banned this practice, countries – especially in Europe –  such as France, Spain, Portugal, and Mexico are still continuing the bullfighting festivals.

Bullfighting can be traced back to the Roman times and the first bullfights were mainly on horseback. The purpose of a bullfight back then was to celebrate special occasions such as royal weddings and military victories.  

Before the Fight

Bullfighting is always an unfair fight for the bulls as bullfighters are given the advantage in the ring.

Bulls have been weakened with drugs or had sandbags dropped on their backs days before the fight. To make the bull as weak as possible and easier to be killed, wet newspapers are stuffed into his ears and cotton stuffed up his nostrils to cut off his respiration while a needle is stuck into his genitals. Vaseline is also rubbed into his eyes to impair their vision. To throw him off balance, their horns have been shaved and a strong acidic solution is rubbed onto his legs, which also prevents him from laying down.

A few days before he faces the ring, the bull will be kept in a small, dark box to disorientate him.

During the Fight

A typical bullfight consists of 3 separate “acts” and is supposed to last for a total of 20 minutes.

The event begins with the bull entering the arena where he will face the picadors. Picadors are men on horses whose motive is to exhaust the bull. They cut into his back and neck muscles using a pica – a weapon about 6 to 8 inches in length and 2 inches thick.

This attack prevents the bull from lifting his head and defend himself. Once the pica is thrust into the bull the picadors twist and gouge the weapon until a large wound appears to ensure a significant loss of blood. The bull then starts bleeding to death.

Once the picadors are finished, the assistant matadors start the next step. They enter on foot and distract the bull, darting around him while using up to 6 banderillas – sharp, brightly coloured sticks with a harpoon point on the end – and plunging them into his back. The bull may also be provoked by capes to get him to charge at them.

When the bull has become weakened from the loss of blood, the assistant matadors run around him in circles until he becomes dizzy and stops charging at them.

Lastly, a trumpet will signal the final “act” of the festival. The main matador appears and will try to end the bull’s life with his sword by severing the bull’s aorta – the largest artery in the body.

If he misses and succeeds in only bringing the animal more pain and suffering, he exchanges his sword for a dagger and will try to cut the spinal cord. If he still does not succeed in killing the bull, which is extremely rare, two things may happen. The bull may be paralyzed and dragged out of the arena to be killed without the audience witnessing it, or, the assistant matadors will rush to finish the bull off.

If the audience is pleased with the main matador’s performance, sometimes the ears and tail of the bull may be cut off and kept as trophies.

Running of the Bulls

This is a practice which involves dozens of bulls or cows who are forced to run a kilometre down the streets of Pamplona, Spain, with and in front of crowds that taunt and mock the animals along a designated route to their final destination – the bullring – to be killed.

During these daily runs that take place every year from the 6th to the 14th of July, spectators and runners abuse the animals by hitting them with sticks or rolled-up newspapers, whacking them with ropes, and even splashing water on the cows and bulls.

All these loud, rowdy and hurtful behaviour can cause anxiety in the bulls and cows, causing them to lose their footing on the slippery road and crash into walls. This increases the risk of them fracturing or breaking bones or otherwise injure themselves.