In Spain, and specifically in Pamplona, the famous “Running of the Bulls” is celebrated annually for a whole week. While many people in the world find this event entertaining, others see that it is cruel, especially that it results in ripping body parts off the animal.
People for the ethical treatment of animals (PETA) are now requesting that President Barack Obama skips that “barbaric” event, as they called it, during his visit to Spain in July. So will Obama respond to PETA’s request?
Earlier this month, White House officials announced that Obama will head to Spain in July. According to White House press secretary, Josh Earnest, the President of the US plans to meet with Spain’s King Felipe VI and the country’s acting prime minister, Mariano Rajoy.
At a press conference, Earnest noted that Obama will be in Spain July 9 to 11, when the Festival of San Fermín is being celebrated in Pamplona with its famous “Running of the Bulls” for a week beginning July 6.
“Hideous and barbaric”…
As soon as this was announced, PETA, working with the Spanish animal rights group AnimaNaturalis, sent a letter to Obama, asking that he forgo the festival. The running ends at the bullring, where the animals used in the run are fought and killed that evening.
Daniel Carron, Outreach Coordinator from, from PETA told FOX News Latino: “No matter how you try to disguise this event, it’s hideous and barbaric.”
He added that “This event has been condemned by the majority of the compassionate people of Spain. They’re calling it sick and cruel. It’s literally ripping body parts off the animal and calling them trophies. It’s a small group that can make that argument that it’s cultural, and those are probably people who are exploiting the animal and making a profit from it.”
Will Obama Respond?
So will Obama respond to PETA’s letter, knowing that the President is a Nobel Peace Prize-winner and, according to the Animal rights group, he should not be associated with the event.
Once at the bullring, the animals are “forced to ‘fight’ for their lives as men on horses taunt and stab them, running them in circles until [the bulls] are dizzy, weak from blood loss and in pain. When they are finally near death, the matador — whose title translates to ‘killer’ in Spanish — plunges a sword between [its] shoulder blades,” the PETA letter reads.
58% in Spain Oppose Bullfighting
“The reality is, it continues because tourists go. Most people who go say they’re sickened by it. PETA Latino is very involved at ending bullfighting worldwide and getting info to naïve tourists. The people in Spain don’t want it,” Carron told FNL.
An online poll by Ipsos MORI, for World Animal Protection found that only 19 percent of adults in Spain between the ages of 16 and 65 who said they supported bullfighting, compared to 58 percent who opposed it.
Carron told FNL that getting President Obama to skip Pamplona is a short-term goal, but ending the Running of the Bulls altogether is the ultimate goal.
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