Written by PETA
If our protest in the middle of New York City's Times Square wasn't enough anti-bullfighting action for ya, just wait until you see the pictures from this mother-of-all-protests in Pamplona, Spain, yesterday.
Two hundred "bloodied" and bare bodies from all over the world (I'm not exaggerating—we're talking U.K., Australia, America, Sweden, Spain, Denmark, Germany, Italy, Poland, Austria, Ukraine, Belgium, Norway … you get the idea) gathered outside the Pamplona mayor's office in protest of the horrible abuses that bulls suffer during Pamplona's nine-day festival of San Fermín.
Before the Running of the Bulls, workers use electric prods and sharp sticks to rile the bulls into a frenzy. Then, the bulls are often debilitated with tranquilizers and beaten before being taken into the bullfighting ring—where they are repeatedly speared with banderillas (barb-tipped wooden daggers) before being stabbed to death.
Help us put an end to this bloodbath.
Written by Shawna Flavell
Now imagine the spectators' surprise if the corner was rounded not by tortured animals but by Formula 1 racing cars. The mighty, 600-kilogram (1323-pound) masses of metal are operated by professional drivers who squeal their tires on the cobblestones and maneuver around corners so tightly that spectators are forced to scramble to safety. How freakin' awesome—and better—would that be?
Well, it turns out that that's what actually happened last weekend. Red Bull sponsored an event where two drivers, David Coulthard and Sebastien Bourdais, tore through the streets of Pamplona early on the morning of June 28. They finished the Red Bull Run with car demonstrations in the bullfighting arena and on a 1.2-mile track.
The best feature of this event was that—unlike what happens at that other Running of the Bulls—the drivers who gave chase weren't beaten before the race, and chemicals weren't smeared in their eyes. The drivers were paid, too. Oh yeah—and the drivers weren't stabbed to death afterward, either, which is nice.
You can check out all sorts of details and videos of the rockin' event here.
Posted by Sean Conner
In a historic first, the Spanish Parliament is expected to pass legislation that will extend rights to great apes. Yes, you read that right. The resolutions bringing Spanish law in line with the recommendations of the Great Ape Project will not only outlaw experimentation on apes but will also make it illegal to exploit them for films and TV. Boo-ya! The new legislation has been approved by Parliament's environmental committee and has strong enough support that it is expected to become law within a year.
Woo-hoo! Way to go, Spain! Come on, America, what's the dealio?
By the way, if you want to do something for apes and other primates in the U.S. of A. (since we're not going to be able to get them all Spanish visas), be sure to tell your senators to support the Captive Primate Safety Act. Really. Go.
Posted by Jeff Mackey
Deflocked, baby. Deflocked.
To check out the archives of past strips, click here.
In the wake of last week’s news about Spain banning bullfights from national TV comes this story from The Guardian about a man being gored to death while participating in a bull run. 30-year-old Jose Antonio Vaquero was tossed around on a bull’s horns while other runners tried to distract the animal, but apparently it was too little too late.
Sadly, this kind of thing is par for the course when it comes to bull runs and bullfighting, and is another reason for Spain to step into the 21st century and ban the cruel bloodsport once and for all.
The Running of the Nudes took place today in Pamplona, and, well, wow. This is the sixth year that PETA Europe has been organizing this fun alternative to Pamplona’s archaic bull run, and the thing just keeps getting bigger and bigger. I’ll be posting more news and pictures from the event as they come in, but here are the first shots from today’s naked “Human Race.”
Are you as psyched as I am for Live Earth this weekend? Mad props to the organizers of this amazing event, which is actually nine concerts rolled into one huge global event to draw attention to the global warming crisis facing the world. What an undertaking . . .
Now don’t get me wrong, anytime Snoop Dogg and Snow Patrol play the same event, I’m all for it, no matter what the cause. But let’s be real here. Because the meat industry emits massive quantities of greenhouse gases and other pollutants, selling meat at Live Earth would be like selling cigarettes at an anti-cancer fundraiser. And that’s exactly the message we sent in a letter to George Zoffinger, the guy in charge of Giants Stadium, the venue for the US portion of the event. Check out the letter here.
While it might be an Inconvenient Truth, for some at first, the reality is that what people eat is far more important than anything else they do—like, more important than switching from a Hummer to a Prius even—in determining greenhouse gas emissions, so making the concert venue vegetarian for the day is really the least the organizers can do. And the single most important step any of us can take to alleviate global warming is to simply go vegetarian.
In any event, enjoy the show, and if you’re looking for something to keep you awake while Madonna and Sheryl Crow perform, check out our “Live For the Earth” contest to win a $50 iTunes gift card.
Happy Fourth of July from everyone at PETA! Except me. I’m British.
I just saw this Newsweek story about the latest trends in fishing and hunting. To put it in a nutshell, a five year U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service study just reported a sharp decline in the number of Americans participating in fishing and hunting. Interestingly enough, this doesn’t mean that people aren’t spending time in the outdoors (“wildlife watching” is up eight percent). It seems that people are simply choosing to look at animals without killing them a lot more.
The bottom line? Check out the ending of the piece: “The real lesson of the report is that as a nation we’re gradually finding new, less violent ways to interact with nature. If this keeps up it won’t be long before Elmer Fudd goes after Bugs Bunny with a pair of binoculars.”
Couldn’t have said it better myself.
The folks in our Vegan department have asked me to remind everyone that the deadline for our Sizzling Summer BBQ Recipe Contest is midnight on July 4. So, if you want to be in the running to win a new grill, among other cool prizes, get your recipes in soon. The winning recipes will also be featured on VegCooking.com.
The sky's the limit as long as the dish is vegan and suitable for a barbecue. Appetizers, salads, entrees, desserts—show us what you've got! Our panel of PETA chefs will select three winners based on taste, creativity and theme.
All this food talk is making me kind of hungry. I wonder if I can somehow scam my way onto the recipe judging committee . . .
If you have a general question for PETA and would like a response, please e-mail Info@peta.org. If you need to report cruelty to an animal, please click here. If you are reporting an animal in imminent danger and know where to find the animal and if the abuse is taking place right now, please call your local police department. If the police are unresponsive, please call PETA immediately at 757-622-7382 and press 2.
Follow PETA on Twitter!