catalonia makes history by banning bullfights
Bulls will no longer suffer a slow, painful and terrifying death in Catalonia’s bullrings.
History has been made this week with the Catalonian Parliament voting to approve an amendment of the current animal protection legislation and ban bullfighting within the region. MPs voted resoundingly in favour of a ban and it will come into effect on January 1st 2012.
This inspiring result came about because of a long and hard-fought campaign. A campaign that has been based on a simple act: people speaking out for animals, calling on politicians to turn those voices into votes.
Local joint platform PROU campaigned tirelessly to end the cruelty suffered by bulls in bullrings each year. The legislative initiative was brought before Parliament in December 2009 after more than 180,000 Catalonian citizens signed a petition demanding an end to bullfighting.
Since then, The World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA) has collected over 85,000 signatures from its supporters worldwide in support of the ban. Find out more from Programmes Manager Dirk Verdonk, who was part of the WSPA team in Barcelona and who recorded this video when news of the landmark decision broke.
More and more local authorities from around the world are outlawing bullfighting, including The Canary Islands and cities in Ecuador, Venezuela, France, Portugal and Colombia. The ban in Catalonia will set an example in Spain for other regions to follow and help make the cruelty of bullfighting history.
Find out more about WSPA’s work to end animal cruelty here.
Thia is fantastic news and long over due. I hope that other regions of Spain quickly follow and ban this barbaric so-called ‘sport’. Congratulations to WSPA and all the tireless campaigners.
Very good news indeed.
Now let’s get on with the challenge of ending factory & intensive farming in all its forms…
Battery chickens;
Sow crates;
Feedlot farming… and so on.
Would you believe that here in Aotearoa New Zealand the money hungry want to intensively farm the McKenzie country…
It is no wonder Jesus wept…
Alastair
mca@motleycrewanimals.co.nz
It pains me to see foreigners criticizing the culture of other countries. If you don’t like bullfighting, don’t watch it, don’t go to Spain, give up your Spanish wine or whatever but do not poke your nose into the business of other countries. In the meantime let those who enjoy such spectacles be free to watch without harassment.
I choose to live in Asia rather than my home in North America and all the time I see Westerners coming here to lecture the locals on democracy, religion and morals. These people make me sick. Why do some Westerners assume they have the only true civilization and the whole world should be like them?
So, by all means express your opinions but don’t attempt to influence other countries, let them make their own decisions without outside interference.
Decided many years ago that I would not travel to Spain because of the mistreatment of the bulls, hopefully, Spain will end this barbaric practice of animal cruelty very soon, so that I can book a ticket!
as Alastair said above the list of our mistreatment of animals is endless, and there will be no end of challenges.
Keep up the wonderful and tireless work
alet
Brian – it pains me to see people use “culture” as an excuse to mistreat animals or people. Just because it is part of a counrties culture does not make it moral or right. And anyway it was Spanish people who made this decision not Westerners.
I think WSPA does a wonderful job in their fight for animal rights. Defenceless animals cannot speak for themselves so their protection is in our hands – BUT – why will the Catalonian MPs wait till January 1st 2012 to bring this change in. How many bulls will be killed from now until then?? Why not bring it into force now? When will the other areas in Spain follow suit? Will they wait another 2 years after the 2012 deadline in Catalonia.