Arrested
Wow, wouldn't have thought that was a criminal matter.
Apprentice bullfighter Christian Hernández decided on Sunday that he'd prefer to pursue another line of work, fleeing the ring to derisive whistles from his fellow Mexicans and proceeding directly to a local police station on a breach of contract rap. Hernández, 22, blew his big chance in Mexico City's prestigious taurine …
Good on him. Bullfighting is a barbaric 'entertainment' in which the bulls suffer a slow painful death for the pleasure of the crowd. "The bull is taunted and stabbed with a variety of spears, barbed spikes and daggers. These weapons are designed to inflict intense pain and cause blood loss to weaken the animal. "
What amazes me about this macho of macho 'sports' is that the bull is usually drugged up to prevent it being too much of a danger to the muchos cojone bullfighters.
Why Beer icon? ... cos I'll happily buy the guy a drink.
I've been to one and yes they're darn messy occasions with no chance for the bull at all. The horses take a stout kicking from the bull, too, no idea what it takes to bust a horse's rib but I reckon being bunted into the air by a pissed off/frightened half ton of bull might do it, regardless of the armour.
...in the modern age. Sure,back in the day there may well have been a use for the skills in bringing a bull down. But today? I think I have a better way to run the sport.
Strap some kind of "Velcro" target to the bull's back. The matador has to land (say) six sticks on to the target to score the "kill". Bull lives, matador still gets to face potential death, traditions live on and audience can still place bets; everyone happy. Maybe even more than happy, the sport could be allowed to grow into countries that would not tolerarte it at the moment (e.g. USA).
In fact the bulls, not being entirely stupid, may wise up to some of the matadors' tactics and then the fans would get to see a real test of skill/courage.
I have no idea what kind of stress the bulls may still be under during the contest, but surely it's better than brutally killing them as happens now?
What takes more cajones:
A: killing an animal for the entertainment of screaming mob because you don't want to be called weak?
or
B: Being true to yourself and admitting you don't the cajones to kill an animal for the entertainment of screaming mob?
I would buy that man a drink, I know I couldn't walk into a ring to torture and kill an animal to a bunch of bloodthirsty drunks.
A kill should be quick, clean (as possible), spare the target suffering, and it should not be for "the fun of it".
Especially in a country like Spain, which is known for it's cultural emphasis on masculinity. Hats off to him for having the balls to publicly come out and say he was afraid.
Oh, and I just want to add I agree with all the people who have been heaping scorn on the barbarism of bullfighting. It's not a sport, it's simple cruelty.
Is PETA doing a raid on our comments board?
While I've never been to a bull fight, much like most of the commentards so far, growing up on a beef farm I know that those buggers are big, nimble and quick. And ornery and cantankerous.
If you annoy one of them enough (eg by looking at it, not looking at it, breathing, holding your breathe, whatever is liable to piss it off that day) it'll have you. I don't have a brother who hasn't been chased up a tree, over a fence or got to duel it out with one. The fact we're all still here is more down to good luck than good management.
Get a bull in the wild (or even on a farm) and they'll do that for fun. Our Spanish brethren and their descendants have managed to find a way for both humans and bulls to do something they enjoy, though not in the case of the articles subject I'll admit, and entertain a crowd at the same time.
Next you'll all be calling to have boxing banned.
Ignoring the crassness of your subject for a moment, are you seriously suggesting as someone knowledgeable about bulls that they enjoy being tortured to death over a prolonged period? That may be an emotive way to put it, but it is torture by definition. Pain is caused. Many people with moderate views who don't have an ethical issue with eating meat (which is another matter altogether so don't start on that) quite reasonably object to the killing of any animal for entertainment - it's hardly an extremist view.
I suspect you know you're being a silly, needlessly provocative dick, so please show a little more maturity or I'll do the moderating equivalent of sticking twenty funny little ribbon-topped pointy sticks in your back and then finally dispatching you with one big fuck-off stabby spear before parading around the thread waving my stupid hat while other commentards throw roses and phone numbers at me.
I mean, really.
Sorry to post anonymously, but there are some sick ***ks amongst the animal rights fascists.
Bullfighting is not described as a "sport" in Spain or anywhere else it is practiced. It is most often reviewed somewhere in the vicinity of the arts pages of the newspapers.
It is true. It is not a sport in the sense that there is no doubt about the outcome at the gross level. The bull ends up dead. Always. Occasionally the bullfighter ends up dead as well. The contest, such as it is, is between the bullfighter's courage and skill and the expectations of the audience. Who - in the major bull-rings at least - are never drunk and are usually extremely knowledgeable. (Yes, it's true that in some back-country fiestas this standard is not always maintained). Also, any evidence that bulls were being drugged would be a national scandal that in an earlier era would have brought governments down. Probably not so much nowadays, but it would still make our pathetic sports betting controversies look like kindergarten spats.
Fighting bulls live an extremely good life up to the last 15 or so minutes. Compare that to the fate of cattle raised for meat in a conventional way. A couple of years of being forced to eat hormone-laced feed followed by hours of abject terror in the dark of an abattoir where most independent investigations catalogue a regime of filth and horror. And that's before you even think about the barbarities of halal and kosher slaughtering.
The first comment here shows a breathtaking lack of understanding. The complaint against this young novice bullfighter was that he did actually cause unnecessary suffering to the animal. Failing to execute a clean kill is the worst thing that a bullfighter can do in the eyes of the crowd, the authorities and himself.
There are issues around bullfighting. Nobody doubts that. It may even die out altogether over a long period. Whether that is a good or a bad thing I am not sure. If we come to the point where it is totally contrary to the mores of societies where it is practiced today then it is probably inevitable and there is little point arguing about it. In the meantime, unless you are a strict vegan and have impeccable moral high ground, then please try to be a little more open minded. You don't have to go to the bullring, but don't feel so insufferably smug about those of us who do.