Looking at the spectacular photos on page 16 of today’s Telegraph (Matador meets his match in bullring) one may get the idea that bullfighting is an acrobatic performance or a fair encounter between man and bull. This is not the case. The bull has no chance of “winning” - even if as shown in the photos it gores the matador. The bull dies after a long and very painful struggle. The main reason why the pictured matador was not severely injured is that the bull was drugged, had its horns shaved which severely damaged its sense of orientation and had its neck muscles cut which made it impossible to raise its head.
Bullfighting is nothing more than a cruel past time that is unpopular among Spaniards and tourists. Seventy-two per cent of Spaniards have no interest in bullfighting according to a 2006 Gallup poll. Consequently the national station RTVE stopped live broadcasts of bullfights last August. Eighty-nine per cent of the British citizens would never visit a bullfight while on holiday (ComRes poll commissioned by the League Against Cruel Sports, April 2008).
Bullfighting remains a cruel and unnecessary spectacle that has no place in a modern society. Sign the world wide pledge never to visit bullfighting.
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