Running of the Bulls 2019: Activists Stage ‘Crime Scene’ Ahead of Running of the Bulls in Pamplona

Fifty-four protesters staged a “crime scene” cordoned off with yellow tape in Pamplona, Spain. The supporters of PETA affiliates and Spanish animal protection group AnimaNaturalis represented each of the bulls who will endure a bloody slaughter in Pamplona this month after being chased down the streets during the infamous Running of the Bulls.

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The San Fermín festival begins tomorrow, and as in previous years, it’s expected that more Australians and New Zealanders than Pamplona locals will take part in the cruel Running of the Bulls. How many Aussie tourists are aware that every single one of the terrified animals they chase through the cobbled streets will be dead a few hours later after being repeatedly stabbed in a bullfight?

Eighty per cent of Spanish people are demanding an end to this archaic, murderous spectacle, but the bullfighting industry is kept on its last legs in part because of Australian tourist money.

22-year-old Jennifer Bossinger from Victoria, Australia.

In the striking PETA demonstration, activists from Australia and other countries around the world – including Ireland, the UK, and the US, together with local protesters – lay down inside outlines of bulls on a piping hot square in Pamplona city centre.

“Banderillas” – the weapons used to stab bulls during bullfights – were sticking out of the protesters’ backs, reminding onlookers that bulls are made of flesh, blood, and bones and experience fear and pain, just as humans do.

All 54 activists were surrounded by signs proclaiming, “Bulls Killed in Pamplona. Stop Bullfighting.”

What Is the Running of the Bulls, and Why Is It Cruel?

The protest comes two days before the start of the city’s notorious Running of the Bulls spectacle, in which terrified bulls are chased through the town’s streets to the bullring. Once they’ve reached the arena, they’re kept there, before being tortured to death in a bullfight later that evening.

Save the Bulls

Jo-Anne McArthur / We Animals

What Spanish People Think About Bullfights

The 54 protesters represent the vast majority of people from around the world, including in Spain, whose tolerance of the murderous spectacle of bullfighting ran out long ago.

More than 80% of Spanish people oppose cruel bullfights, and approximately 56% fewer official bullfights took place in 2018 than in 2007, but these sick spectacles are able to continue in large part because of tourist money. Thrill-seekers fail to realise that running with the bulls means participating in a festival in which animals are tortured to death.

It’s time that Pamplona stopped allowing terrified bulls to be stabbed to death for this barbaric spectacle.

What You Can Do for Bulls

Many people who attend bullfights are horrified by what they see and would never have bought a ticket if they’d known how violent it would be.

By that point, though, it’s too late: the bullfighting industry has already pocketed the money, and the bull has endured a torturous, ritualistic death that no amount of remorse can undo. The only way to shut down this abusive industry is by refusing to support it in any way.

• PETA and other animal protection groups have long spoken out against Pamplona’s annual bloodbath – and you can do the same.
• Please, don’t contribute to the torture and killing of these animals – stay away from the San Fermín festival.
• Never attend a bullfight. Tourism is one of the industry’s main excuses for continuing the abhorrent bloodbath.
• Spread the word.