Those who support bullfighting say it is a tradition, part of Spain’s culture. It is not considered a sport; rather it appears in the art and culture pages of the Spanish papers.
Those who oppose bullfighting say it is too violent and cruel for civilized society.
Where do you stand?
I totally oppose bullfighting & I do not see it as an enjoyable sport . The bulls are ought to be utilized in a better way such as plowing small difficult lands (for the tractor to reach).
I totally oppose bullfighting & I do not see it as an enjoyable sport . The bulls are ought to be utilized in a better way such as plowing small difficult lands (for the tractor to reach).
I have not seen it myself but what I read from literature with the links attached here is a cruel act and should be stopped. The following passage from Wiki
"The bullfight, as it is practiced today, involves professional toreros (of which the most senior is called a matador) who execute various formal moves which can be interpreted and innovated according to the bullfighter's style or school. It has been alleged that toreros seek to elicit inspiration and art from their work and an emotional connection with the crowd transmitted through the bull. Such maneuvers are performed at close range, after the bull has first been weakened and tired by lances and short spears with barbs which are thrust into and then hang from the bull. The close proximity places the bullfighter at some risk of being gored or trampled by the weakened bull. After the bull has been hooked multiple times behind the shoulder by other matadors in the arena, the bullfight usually concludes with the killing of the bull by a single sword thrust, which is called the estocada. In Portugal, the finale consists of a tradition called the pega, where men (forcados) try to grab and hold the bull by its horns when it runs at them."
http://www.stopbullfighting.org.uk/facts.htm
http://www.peta.org/issues/animals-in-entertainment/cruel-sports/bullfighting/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bullfighting
Dear @Mahmoud, bullfighting a controversial act; the following report entitled: "BULLFIGHTING – BARBARIC OR ART?" discusses the history and related issues.
Spain has become internationally known for its bullfighting, a tradition that spawns debate in many parts of the world and within Spain itself. Fans of bullfighting claim that it is a culturally important tradition, while animal rights activists argue that it is a bloodsport due to the suffering of bulls and horses involved. Whether you criticize it as an unfair bloodsport or look at it as authentic Spanish art, there is certainly much more to bullfighting than a man slaughtering a bull. In fact, bullfighting is not just a Spanish tradition; Portugal, Latin America and a few cities in southern France also have a history of bullfighting. The tradition as practiced today involves three toreros (matadors) who each fight two bulls, which are at least four years old and weigh between 460–600 kg. Each matador has six assistants: two picadores (lancers) mounted on horseback, three banderilleros (flagmen), and a mozo de espada (sword page). Jointly they encompass a cuadrilla (entourage). Bullfighting traces its roots to prehistoric worshiping and sacrificing of bulls. The killing of a sacred bull is called tauromachy and was a central iconic act of the Mithras.
http://www.totalspain.org/bullfighting.htm
I have a very affirmative opinion.
It may be a tradition. But this doesn´t justtify it´s pratice. It´s killing without any ethic sense. We had some very traditional societies, who killed humans and ate them. For me bullfighting sounds like this. I´m ashamed about such "humans"!
Any activity or tradition of humans by intent to entertain or study by harming and inflicting pain to the animals is an act of cruelty. There are several traditions of the human society that are to be avoided - such as female genital mutilation, stretching lips and putting some decoration in it, bull fighting by inflicting pain to the animal, etc, to list few.
I have seen five minutes of bullfighting in Spain 2 years ago, and I could not complete it. It is unethical, bloody and full of pain to an animal.
It's a matter of human welfare versus animal lives.
I think that if the sport was proposed in Spain today, with no tradition to it, it would be banned immediately. But I think that because of the heritage of the sport it is justifiable, as it brings money to areas in Spain that might struggle otherwise. It creates jobs for people, and taking the sport away could actually mean the bulls have less pleasant lives.
It is suicidal sport, but overwhelming support during the Harvest festival PONGAL (mid of January every year).
practiced in Tamilnadu ... termed as Jallikattu, often the Court intervenes and stops the sport activity but again set loose with certain limitations and controls...
http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/tamil-nadu/supreme-court-bans-jallikattu-in-tamil-nadu/article5986025.ece
Dear @Mahmoud, it is forbidden in my country! Bullfightings are to be one of the most abhorrent displays of animal cruelty on earth! I do not like it at all!
But, the following story speaks some positive things brought by bullfighting! Watch and listen carefully!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlIHnYOHNLk
Dear @Roland, maybe this quote and cashed link will help You to realize the bullfighting as an p(art) of Spanish soul! "Spain's capital and its great rival, Barcelona, are taking opposite sides in a cultural battle over the fate of the corrida!"
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:bhQrCRM6gWwJ:www.theguardian.com/world/2010/mar/07/madrid-protects-bullfighting-art+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=rs
Dear @Ljubomir, I always think of art as some kind of beauty, passion, ... You made me to think again about Art and Artists!.
Similar to this bullfighting the craze for WWE wrestling (Men in Animal Behavior) is doing harm to the school children.
Lot many things need to be changed or stopped...bullfighting is one of them
Dear @Ankush. You said "Lot many things need to be changed or stopped" Who should initiate the move? Mass media, politicians, ordinary people or scientists (like us)? I think researchers should be in the front line.
I believe a thought or moment like this should be well supervised. It should not be out of rage or against ..or else it becomes just a mess or a protest which happens, does some damages and then is forgotten
Based on previous posts may i propose this: With the advancement of technology a closer relationship (harmony) between tradition and science should be sought by scientists.
So, what effectively are we doing in this direction then..meetings, discussion..and we will need a society who can maie people understand and save some animals
I do not support bull-fighting at all. I am a safety-conscious person; so why indulge in this cruel act when we have so many other popular games that are far more civilized and involve no such violence.
Dear @Debi Thank you for your contribution. Since you are a safety-conscious person then could you please tell us "How should we make other people more safety conscious, too?"
Dear Mahmoud
Very nice question. I think it should be nurtured as a "Value" among the children by the parents. I am attaching a photo from Aarhus, Denmark, from where I just returned the day before after a month. I also wrote the following on the Facebook for my Facebook friends that includes reference to utmost safety as a value by Danish people:
."................What impressed me the most is the value of safety that one and all would demonstrate. It seems parents inculcate it in children as one of the first priorities. I also tried to do that in my own children when they were small, but when grown up, my older son remarked: "Baba, my friends say that I am a darpok (excessively cautious)." I have never seen any minor or major accident in Aurhus in these five years. Most cyclists ride copybook and wear helmets, even as it is not a legal necessity, and almost all roads have cycle tracks. I was wondering how many lives we can save in Delhi city if we can enforce that among at least motorcyclists, not to talk of cyclists. This is an era of benchmarking the best, and one can learn immensely from the Aarhus/Danish experience. I have never seen even one cyclist ever wearing a helmet in Delhi--the city of 25 million people, or even anywhere else in the whole of India. Mothers allow children to play on roads in precarious conditions. No Indian state agency ever even thinks rationally on these issues, except in some seminars.
I have never seen in Aarhus anyone quarreling or even speaking in high pitch. I have never seen even one beggar ever; social security is so enviable. Perhaps, all these are the reasons why Denmark tops the list of happiest countries in the world; if there is a listing of happiest city in the world, I am confident, Aarhus would top the list. Would you not call it Utopia? I feel, it is very close. "
Dear @Debi.
Welcome back to your homeland. No place (even Aarhus ) is like home.
Thank you sharing your observation during your stay in Denmark specially their safety as a value practice .
Can we compare India with Denmark: I doubt about it. Anyway, to answer you back I have to jump to some other issues. Until poverty is eradicated, equal opportunity for education is provided to all, the idea of right person with the right abilities and values in the right place be enforced, ..., we stay where we are now and they move even faster! They went through these phases already, and took full advantages of others (resources, ...) when we were in deep sleep. There is large time lag (order of years) between us.
Dear Mahmoud
I agree that development is the best solution to a large number of problems. But there is a theory of change that envisages a visionary leader, who creates a sense of urgency, passionately pursues the envisaged change as a mission, and shows a vision to his people, communicates it to one and all, and succeeds in internalizing the change. But there have to change masters of that disposition; indeed there is a terrible dearth of such leaders. But there are several stories of transformational change. We can not sit idle thinking that development will take place and then the problems would get solved!
Dear Debi, Pure development is not the best solution as you said. Provided moral development gets priority.
Till people feel the resposibility ..development is no use may it be any feild
Every big sport is commercial and causes complicated consequences for sportsman's health. Corrida is a part of Spain's culture- they go to corrida not for the sake of seeing a bull, but for seeing matador's art. Surely, I'm against violence. I'm for corrida with "indulto", without killing.
Very right ...the change can come slowly with people provided some other form of sport which is equally liked and does not involve or threaten any living being
Returning back to question. It is a tragedy, the death of the bull, which is played, more or less well, by the bull and the man involved and in which there is danger for the man but certain death for the animal. Yet, the only place where one can see life and death i.e. violent death, is in the bullring. The world has moved so far beyond the origins of bullfighting. It is struggling to find its place in the 21st century. Bullfighting is swimming against the tide of globalization.
Yes, recurrent head injury, trauma and parkinsons disease in later age. All adventure sports risk life for thrill and value of life much depends upon the place you r living, so, it's all connected
If I follow all these contributions, I´m rembered the old roman gladiators, the cockfighting, the car racing etc. It´s always the same: see some individuals suffering and have your fun. Eck!!
I don´t like all of them.
Dear Kamal and Hanno. Whether these sports brutal and rough is better not to be mixed with something of different nature than bullfighting which is cruel act. They deserve another question and discussion. However, the example given by Hanno "old roman gladiators" seems more appropriate. It was similar to bullfighting and even worse man killing another man. It was barbarous. Thanks god it disappeared long time ago. Let's wish the same thing happen to bullfighting, too.
Dear Hanno. You are right. Bullfighting has some resemblance to gladiatorial games. One gladiator might only be lightly armed with little to nothing to protect him, whereas the other might be better armed, but restricted in his movements by his equipment.
Therefore each gladiator, to some extent or another, was either too heavily or too lightly armed. Bulls and rhinoceroses were first brought to a rage, much like in a Spanish bullfight, before they were met their hunters.
Dear @Mahmoud and friends, Grmec Bullfighting is tradition old more than 230 years! "Unlike its Spanish counterpart, the Bosnian bullfight does not involve humans as active participants and does not result in the death of the bulls. These fights are duels between the bulls themselves. Fights happen in an open field, as each bull tries to chase its opponent away from a loosely defined pitch." It is more human than Spanish!
http://www.atlasobscura.com/places/bullfights-of-grmec
People in old times might not be having advances like we have today and so opted for such bull fighting games, but it is not ethical and is a cruel act, culture changes from time to time and so it can have scope to be changed in future. Like this many spiritual and other acts are there of sacrificing humans/children and animals -- these all also must be stopped with some strict rules. But it all continues on the name and behalf of culture or being ancient / historic?
Hi Prof. Mahmoud Omid; it may be tradition, culture and a sport for spain and any other part of world but in my opinion bullfighting is too violent and cruel for civilized society. Sorry.
Thanks
Bullfighting as an 'art form'? More like a barbaric act of animal cruelty!
"This bullfighter is not an artist; he's a sadist. People like him may call it art, but The Times certainly should not have." — Animal rights activist Patty Shenker
http://www.latimes.com/opinion/readersreact/la-le-0416-saturday-bullfighting-readers-outraged-20160416-story.html
Bullfighting is or was surely part of the Spanish culture and tradition as well as the fight between gladiators or between men and beasts it was for the Roman Empire and not just for centuries. Today only appears as a cruel act.
Jallikattu: India lifts ban on bullfighting in Tamil Nadu - BBC News
http://www.humaura.com/news/jallikattu-india-lifts-ban-on-bullfighting-in-tamil-nadu-bbc-news
Cruelty shall be stopped. Do not hide in the name of culture, tradition, religion, history etc.
I'm with the vast majority here. Bullfighting is cruel and totally unnecessary. Whenever we see this type of "cultural tradition," we always hear those who justify by saying that "it's part of the culture."
My question has always been, and not just about bullfighting but any number of other barbaric "cultural traditions," why would anyone think that cloaking the activity in politically correct mumbo jumbo makes it okay? It isn't okay. We have evolved to the point that we know it causes unnecessary suffering. End of story.
Dear Mahmoud Omid ,
Killing for the spectacle - this is without humanity !!!
Regards, Shafagat
Dear Mahmoud, I think that is is not a sport, because sport is considered as healthy life, while bullfighting is opposite of it.
Human Psychological disorder characterized by quenching the thirst of superiority with animal cruelty, performed under the garb of sport, tradition, culture and many more.
Even if some people believe that bullfighting is tradition or culture, this can never justify cruelty to animals: cruelty is cruelty no matter where in the world it happens. Bullfighting takes place in only nine countries around the world. A number of countries have banned bullfighting by law, e.g. Argentina, Canada, Cuba, UK, Denmark, Germany, Italy, Netherlands and New Zealand. There are even certain regions within the bullfighting countries that have abolished bullfighting; e.g. The Canary Islands in Spain, and most of France.
http://www.bullfightingfreeeurope.org/
Some bullfighting facts by League against cruel sports follow!
"Each year the European Union provides an estimated £110 million through Common Agriculture Policy payments to farmers who breed bulls for bullfights. £13.5 million comes from the UK alone..."
What's Wrong with Bullfighting?
Each year tens of thousands of bulls are maimed, tortured and killed for entertainment in Spain, Portugal, France, Columbia, Mexico, Venezuela and Peru. Thousands of horses are also injured or killed each year in bullfights, as they are frequently used as a part of the bullfighting display...
What is the League doing about Bullfighting?
The League campaigns to raise awareness of the cruelty of bullfighting, and to push for a global ban...
http://www.league.org.uk/our-campaigns/bullfighting/bullfighting-facts
http://www.league.org.uk/our-campaigns/bullfighting/whats-wrong-with-bullfighting
http://www.league.org.uk/our-campaigns/bullfighting/what-are-we-doing-about-bullfighting
What goes on behind the bullfights
Most people are unaware of the facts behind the bullfights, all the torture that the bulls are exposed to "prepare" them for the "valiant matador". To start with, the bullfight bull is not a natural breed, but a crossbreed created especially for this purpose. The bulls are herbivorous, myopic and are released in the bullring only after:
- The animal is kept for a couple of days in a dark room, without water nor food to weaken it
- The animal is hit with a sack of wet sand on his ribs and kidneys. This method is known among the bullfighters as "bajar al toro'' (weaken the bull)
- Vaseline is added into his eyes to cloud the vision
- Cotton is stuck in the bulls nose holes and throat to make it difficult to breathe
- Quite often, the tip of the bull horns get shaved off, so they would not represent a big threat to the "brave" matador
- Laxatives are given to the bulls to make them weaker
- If the bull is too weak after all these "treatments", then thinner (turpentine), is dropped on his hooves and genitals, so when the bull appears on the ring kicking and jumping, it is not because he is "furious" and "brave", but because he feels that his hooves and genitals are burning with pain
- Often these people stab the bull testicles with knitting needles, to make them look "wilder and aggressive"
- To complete their evilness, often has been reported that the wooden door that slides in an upward motion to release the tortured bull into the ring, is released to make it fall onto the bull's head, fissuring their skull just before going into the arena.
http://www.catcahelpanimals.org/22.html
Dear all:
This is an old debate. I understand the importance of tradition, but bullfighting has always seems to me a depressing spectacle. It is not time yet to ban it ?
The question is, obviously, whether tradition can legitimize such practice. Clearly, the mere fact that some practice has been going on for decades or centuries, by itself, doesn’t make it a good practice. There has to be room for moral progress. History is full of examples; perhaps the most obvious of all is slavery.
http://blog.practicalethics.ox.ac.uk/2011/04/stop-bullfighting-but-carry-on-bullrunning-really/
Is bullfighting a sport or an art or a cruel act?
Beside bullfighting, there are also other traditional practices like cocks-fight, animal hunting etc. Think different groups of people have different opinion on these practices due to different perceived value systems, social reasons (e.g. competition, gambling, status etc.), ethical reasons, economic reasons, abundance of resources etc. So justification is depending on from what viewpoints you are deriving.
Just a suggestion to think aloud - can these practices being computerized / digitized / programmed into virtual reality so that the supportive group still enjoy such practices with the elimination of animal's casualty? Is there ROI justification to develop such software applications? Feel free to share your views.
Dear Colleagues,
Good Day,
"Bulls can do nothing to demand justice. They can only defend themselves as best they can in a fight with a pre-determined ending and die never knowing why they were forced to endure such a painful and prolonged death. It's up to us, as a civilized society, to call for an end to the Running of the Bulls and bullfighting."
---- Ingrid Newkirk
Dear all
Bullfighting prevails in an era when human have to fight animal for safe and Have to hunt animal for subsistence. So human had to hold fighters, heroes. And human had to possess savage and barbaric nature for surviving. Through bullfighting provokes savage and barbaric nature to fight. Now we live in an era without savage fighting. We do not need militant nature. Why don’t we abandon the savage game- bullfighting?
Bullfighting is not a fair sport
Let's compare: A basketball is a piece of rubber filled with air. You can do anything you like with it and the basketball won't care. But a bull on the other hand feels pain, fear, confusion and sorrow. Yes, all those emotions.
Fair Play
Maybe a better solution to the whole problem is to recognize that bull-fighting, hunting, and alike are sports with the wrong, unfair rules. A few simple changes of the rules of football would improve the spectacle of the game. I think that a few similar changes ought to apply in both bull-fighting and fox-hunting. The problem with these sports is that they are unfairly one-sided. In bull-fighting, the Toreador rarely gets gored; the bull invariably gets killed. In the spirit of fair play, the answer is to limit the size of the Toreador's cape (or whatever it's called) to the size of a man's handkerchief (say, 6 inches square). This would make the Toreador's task incomparably more difficult--and give the bull a fighting chance of victory.
http://gwydionthemagician.blogspot.com/2004/09/fox-hunting-bull-fighting-and-fair.html
Some people say bullfighting is a tradition. But that's true for kanibylismus somewhere -so what with this matter we will do :-))
Bullfighting is a traditional cultural event in a region of the world. Viewers do not look to see blood, but sets that are artistic in their view pictures. However, for many, the violence associated with this practice makes it questionable and maintenance or improper disclosure.
Certainly, it is a tradition with spectacular pomp and gorgeous outfits and moves from the matadors. However, there is no need to actually kill the bull in the ring; it has been argued that there are more animal-friendly, bloodless alternatives to the bullfight. Moreover, there are plenty of traditions in Europe that were too cruel or dangerous to continue: think of putting criminals in the rack, bear baiting, dog fighting and sending children to work. Societies are constantly changing and evolving, and insisting on the continuing of a cruel Medieval tradition–even though the majority of the Spanish public are against it–is a sign of a society in stagnation.
http://eluxemagazine.com/magazine/end-bullfighting/
Dear Colleagues,
Good Day,
"Bullfighting is the only art in which the artist is in danger of death and in which the degree of brilliance in the performance is left to the fighter's honor."
----- (Ernest Hemingway)
Bullfight Opinion Poll
KEY OPINION POLL FINDINGS:
- 76% oppose use of public funds to support the bullfighting industry
- Only 29% of the population support bullfighting (just 13% support it “strongly”)
- 75% of respondents said they hadn’t attended a bullfight in the last 5 years
- 7% of respondents said they attended a bullfight “about once a year,” compared with 20% who said they visited a museum/art exhibition; 19% who made theatre visits; and 12% who attended football matches
- 67% agree that children under 16 should not be allowed to attend bullfights
http://www.hsi.org/world/europe/news/releases/2013/04/spain_bullfighting_ipsos_poll_042313.html
Barbaric Bullfighting: What a load of bull!
"You do not have to be an animal advocate to understand the obvious immorality here. Those who turn a blind eye to this act need to have the truth hit them like it hit me that sunny, Spanish evening. With thanks to PETA, the horrifying facts regarding bullfighting are circulated throughout social media. So read these without flinching and without an awful feeling of disgust and sadness rise within you. I guarantee you can’t...
... Animals should not be exploited for the purpose of entertainment. If this entertains you then you are not sane. One day this act will stop. I hope to be in this world still when this happens. What the animals need are our voices. What use are we if we do not use our voice to stand up for those who cannot stand up for themselves?"
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/barbaric-bullfighting-what-load-bull-rachel-whitworth?trkInfo=VSRPsearchId%3A577811291463911399274%2CVSRPtargetId%3A7335805832134683288%2CVSRPcmpt%3Aprimary&trk=vsrp_influencer_content_res_name
While most sporting events value victory over method, in modern bullfighting the method is the essence of the spectacle. Its supporters see it as an art form not unlike ballet but with one major difference. As bullfighting aficionado Ernest Hemingway famously said in Death in the Afternoon (1932), “Bullfighting is the only art in which the artist is in danger of death.” as dear Hazim stated already.
Spain story
Many places in Spain consider the bullfights an important part of their cultural activities. The larger towns and cities will usually have a bullfights on most afternoons of the fair, and in some cases, such as Sevilla, the bullfights are an attraction in their own right. Nevertheless, there is a very obvious dark side to bullfighting – the cruelty – which some people in Spain, even in the traditional heartlands of bullfighting in the south, are very much against. In attached post, you are able to read the rights and wrongs of bullfighting in Spain.
http://catavino.net/spanish-bullfighting-the-romance-the-drama-and-the-traditional-recipes/
Superstitious tradition dominates human minds
— By FPJ Bureau
"While the nation is on development path, the superstition still dominates the minds of people in rural areas. Such events are organised with full zeal and enthusiasm on the festival of Diwali. Hundreds of people laid down on the ground with a hope to fulfil of their wishes when the cattle walk over them.
Events of bullfighting are hosted in the outskirts of the city on the occasion of Padwa every year. Though, the Supreme Court has banned the event, people still continue the practice.
People from Bhidawad village of Barnagar tehsil, 75 km away from here were following the superstitious tradition that can even claim the lives of people. Hundreds of cattle ran over people who laid on the grounds on the occasion of Padwa festival on Monday. Dozens of people happily laid on the grounds to let cattle run over them. Surprisingly, people do not have any major injury or loss of life which they call the grace of God."
http://www.freepressjournal.in/superstitious-tradition-dominates-human-minds/249734
Dangerous Sports: No
Should dangerous sports such as boxing or motor-racing be banned?
It really is incredible that in this day and age we should still allow hunting or bullfighting, that we should be prepared to sit back and watch two men batter each other to pulp, that we should be relatively unmoved by the sight of roll forming machine or a number of racing cars crashing and bursting into flames. Let us not deceive ourselves. Any talk of ‘the spirit’ is sheer hypocrisy. People take part in because of the high rewards they bring. Spectators are willing to pay vast sums of money to. A world heavyweight championship match, for instance, is front page news. Millions of people are disappointed if a big fight is over in two rounds instead of. They feel disappointment because they have been deprived of the exquisite pleasure of witnessing prolonged torture and violence.
Why should we ban violent sports if people enjoy them so much? You may well ask. The answer is simple: they are uncivilized. For man has been trying to improve himself spiritually and emotionally – admittedly with little success. But at least we no longer tolerate the sight madmen cooped up in cages, or public floggings of roll forming machine of the other barbaric practices which were common in the past. Prisons are no longer the grim forbidding places they used to be. Social welfare systems are in operation in many parts of the world. Big are being made to distribute wealth fairly.
Above are experts from: wikidot
http://rxwiki.wikidot.com/vicious-and-dangerous-sports-should-be-banned-by-law
Very valid point raised by Prof Kundu, an unnatural act in the name of sport and others crying for natural justice.
I believe that bullfighting is a cruel act. There are so many enjoyable sports in the world that bullfighting can be easily stopped because it is torturing animals for fun.
I thank everyone participated in this question. Let me finish with a saying from George Orwell about violence In sports: "Serious sport has nothing to do with fair play. It is bound up with hatred, jealousy, boastfulness, disregard of all rules and sadistic pleasure in witnessing violence. In other words, it is war minus the shooting. - "
All that violence in the world, we need to stop that.
“At the heart of all romanticism is suffering”
― Brin-Jonathan Butler
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