Matador
"The time will come when men such as I will look upon the murder of animals as they now look on the murder of men."
-Leonardo da Vinci
Pamplona
The running of the bulls is an event I never gave much thought before going vegan. In a high school English class, we learned that visiting the San Fermin festival was Ernest Hemingway's inspiration for The Sun Also Rises. Collectively as a society, we are aware of some aspects of the festival: humans running down the streets with bulls, bullfighting, matadors in bright outfits and red capes. Nothing ever seemed outright cruel to me, but that's because there was a time in my life where I had faith in humanity. Where I believed that people were generally good and felt the same love for animals that I did. However, it seems humans will go to any length to cause as much suffering as we can on our animal cousins.
What Happens?
The first step of the festival is the running of the bulls, in which the terrified animals are forced to chase after silly humans craving an adrenaline rush. Afterwards, the bulls are individually escorted into a bullring as if we've been transported back to the days of gladiators (who, ironically, were predominantly vegetarian - vegan by today's standards). The bulls are stabbed multiple times by deadly circus clowns called picadors and banderilleros, causing the animals intense trauma and pain. Then, after the bulls have suffered extensively, the matador comes to finally kill them. Literally translated, matar in Spanish means to kill. Therefore, a matador is a killer.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kx0Jo4J-Deg
Placing Blame
Though we may want to place the blame on someone - anyone - for allowing this to happen, we should refrain from doing so. While it's easy to call the Spanish barbarians, we must remember that this is simply a cruel part of their culture that has not yet changed. In other "civilized" countries, we also host similar savage activities called rodeos. Despite this, I would never call my fellow Americans a collectively vicious people. We're different cultures - different countries - with the same kinds of cruelty. Also, this would not continue if it weren't profitable; with thousands of tourists flocking there annually, this festival is much more of a global issue than just a Spanish one. Luckily, many people across the world are protesting the festival this year, as most of us can agree that killing for fun is wrong. It's time for change.
be conscious, be kind, be vegan