My name is Crystal. I am a vegan dancer, dog mum, and passionate animal rights advocate. I lived in Madrid, the capital city of Spain, for nearly a decade, where I would witness annually the masses coming to the arena to watch bulls be taunted, tortured, and murdered for entertainment. It is long past time for this cruel and archaic form of "entertainment" to meet its end. Each year some 250,000 bulls are slaughtered in bullfighting rings.

La Tortura no es Cultura! Torture is not Culture!

In a typical bullfight, the bull enters the arena and is approached by picadors—men on horses who drive lances into his back and neck muscles. This attack impairs his ability to lift his head and defend himself. The picadors twist and gouge the lances to ensure significant blood loss.

Then banderilleros enter on foot, distract the bull, and dart around him while plunging banderillas—brightly colored sticks with a harpoon point on the end—into his back. When he has become weakened from blood loss, the banderilleros run him in circles until he becomes dizzy and stops chasing them.

Finally, the matador appears and—after provoking a few exhausted charges from the dying animal—tries to sever the bull’s aorta with his sword. If he misses, succeeding only in further mutilating the animal, he exchanges his sword for a dagger to try to cut the spinal cord. If he blunders this stroke, the bull may be conscious but paralyzed when chained by the horns and dragged out of the arena.

If the crowd is happy with the matador, the bull’s ears—and sometimes his tail—are cut off and presented as trophies. A few minutes later, another bull enters the arena, and the sadistic cycle starts again.

Most tourists don’t know that the dozens of bulls who are forced to run in the streets of Pamplona, Spain, are later killed in the bullring. During the daily runs, spectators and runners hit them with sticks and rolled-up newspapers. The panicked animals can lose their footing on the slippery cobblestone streets and crash into walls, risking breaking bones or otherwise injuring themselves. This violence prompts yet more violence: There are numerous reports of sexual assaults during the “festivities.”

PETA holds demonstrations every year to highlight to cruelty of bullfighting and running with the bulls in Spain. 

Although I am not currently living in Spain, this is still an issue that is near to my heart. I will be taking my 2 adopted Spanish Podencos, Jasmine and Mimi, to Norfolk, VA with me to run the Norfolk Harbor Half Marathon with the PETA Pack this November (they will be in their deluxe stroller).

I would love your support. Together we can make the world a kinder place for animals.