Monday, June 7, 2010

Things that made me teary this morning, or: Blood sports even for the smallest of creatures

Under this article from today's Guardian, is this comment, which just makes my heart break.

6 Jun 2010, 2:17AM
The cruelty does not begin or end with bullfights in Spain. At 'ferias' I have been to you can pay a Euro to throw stones at a rabbit nailed to a plank; I have seen donkeys stabbed to death in the town square in Mijas on Easter parades (there is of course the infamous traddition of throwing a donkey or a horse from the bell tower as well), and in Malaga they regularily have bullfights for children where the 'matador', dressed a bit like Ronald McDonald, invites the children to join him in hacking a bull calf to death in the ring, to much merriment of the assembled parents. And if you are too lazy to participate in the stabbing, taunting and torturing yourself, you can always watch the children's bullfighting programme on Saturday morning: 'Toros para todos.'
What a lovely country. Let's all go there and pay our respects their ancient and noble traditions, shall we?
It's not right. It will never be right. Culture and tradition be damned.

3 comments:

steph said...

My understanding is that the way agriculture works is they need many more female cows, than male bulls. But half of all births are male. This means you have to kill most males at birth or figure out something to do with them. The Spanish figured out something to do with them. So let well enough alone.

OH NICE

Niki said...

Awww so sad! What is wrong with people? When did it become so damn important to continue with 'culture and tradition' in the face of obscenely sickening cruelty??

Miss T said...

And also: why we do we think that anything that is 'culture and tradition' are absolutely, unquestionably worth preserving?

They're not, any more than 'permitted' violence against women, forced marriages, child brides, caste systems or pogroms are.