[Jaani_Dushman]

Oorspronkelijk geplaatst door Johan Bollen

Ik sprak eens met een spanjaard die dat stierenvechten verdedigde door te verwijzen naar het geweldige natuurlijke leven dat die dieren krijgen voordat ze de arena worden ingejaagd. Ze leven goed maar sterven een dood die lijkt op moord. Dieren in de industriële veehouderij daarentegen hebben een 'hondenleven' en dan sterven ze eventueel pijnloos. Interessant is in de vergelijking ook te betrekken dieren die een 'goed' leven hadden en dan zonder verdoving stierven. Niet zo simpel te kiezen in plaats van het dier mijns inziens. Dit is in essentie een thema over ethiek en geen gemakkelijk.

Bullfighting is a traditional Latin American spectacle in which bulls bred to fight are tortured by armed men on horseback, then killed by a matador. Starved, beaten, isolated, and drugged before the “fight,” the bull is so debilitated that he cannot defend himself. After being stabbed, speared, and harpooned, the suffering animal is killed.

Bulls
Bulls are generally calm, peaceful animals who behave violently only when defending themselves or their territory. For this reason, bulls must be expressly bred for bullfighting. More specifically, they are bred to be slow, simple, and predictable, in other words, easy to slaughter. Some bulls are even bred to return to the bullfighter and the torture he inflicts, therein giving the mistaken impression that the animal is fighting a fair fight.


Before the “Fight”
Heavy weights are tied to the bull’s neck for weeks before the fight to weaken him. Workers rub petroleum into his eyes to obscure his vision and beat the bull’s kidneys repeatedly. They give him tranquilizers, laxatives, and drugs that induce paralysis or a hypnotized state. They feed the bull a great deal of salt so that he will drink excessive amounts of water, become bloated and, consequently, slow. The vast majority of bulls are forced to undergo afeitado, the cutting down or filing of the horns. Part of the bull’s horns are sawed off so that he cannot thrust at his opponent properly. All the while, the bullfighter is practicing his techniques on underweight heifers.


For hours before to the bullfight, the bull is held in a tiny, dark isolation cell. He is not given food or water. Confused and anxious, the bull misses the company of his herd. Just before entering the bullring, he is harpooned, causing him to bleed, then released into the bright light of the arena.

http://www.lcanimal.org/cmpgn/cmpgn_015.htm