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

nytimes / CC

Recently, an 11-year-old Mexican "bullfighter," goaded on by parents who make Brooke Shields' mom look overprotective, tried to establish a Guinness world record by killing six bull calves in one day in Merida, Mexico—despite attempts by the courts and animal protection groups to cancel the event.

Bullfighting is always cruel—the bulls are often beaten in the kidneys, have Vaseline smeared into their eyes, and are given laxatives to slow them down before they are released into the ring to be stabbed to death—but this was calf-killing. Like the child "bullfighter," Michelito Lagravere Peniche, these animals were still youngsters, but, unlike him, they didn't choose to be there and they didn't want to hurt anyone. They just wanted to prance and play. To make matters worse, hundreds of other kids were brought by their parents to watch the carnage and be encouraged to emulate the little matador (literally, "murderer").

The good news is that Guinness World Records takes animal abuse seriously and has refused to publish this new "record," saying, "We do not accept records based on the killing or harming of animals." Olé to Guinness!

Written by Jeff Mackey

They've both been featured in killer PETA street demonstrations this month! Now, we're known for being clever, sexy, and interesting when it comes to our eye-catching demos, but in my opinion, the last few weeks have really taken the cake. Check it:

 

These hottie-boom-botties have teamed up at San Francisco's annual leather-fetish festival to remind people that you can still have the fetish without the flesh.

 

This devoted peta2 crowd got in the Halloween spirit this year by donning fake blood and zombie makeup to remind the rest of New York City that they'd rather be dead than eat at KFC.

 

This awesome activist removed her clothes and slapped on the tiger stripes to remind circusgoers that wild animals don't belong behind bars.

 

PETA Germany activists staged a naked die-in to draw public attention (as well as tons of German media attention) to their frustration with the European Union's support for the cruel bullfighting industry.

 

Our good pal Frieda the Sea Kitten laid out our ever-popular (not to mention massive) sea kitten quilt for aquarium attendees in Tampa to remind them that sea kittens are wonderful animals who shouldn't be held in captivity.

 

Written by Christine Doré

PETA President Ingrid Newkirk's new book One Can Make a Difference is a collection of essays by some pretty awesome people—and one of my favorites is the wonderful Stella McCartney. You can't help but love Stella; she is not only a fabulous (and award-winning!) fashion designer but also a staunch opponent of fur and leather.

Even when asked to use animal skins in her clothing, Stella's always said no. In her essay, she writes, "I'm actually quite proud that I stuck to my decision never to touch the products of such outright cruelty." Right on, Stella! We're proud of you, too!

Another fantastic part of her essay is when she talks about this PETA fur exposé, which she narrated:

 

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She sent copies to a bunch of designers who continue to use fur, but not all of them were willing to watch it. "Karl Lagerfeld, rather predictably, felt he needed to return the video to me!" Stella writes. "Dolce & Gabbana were disgracefully rude about it, too."

Why the lack of manners? Stella has one hypothesis: "I frankly don't think most designers have the balls to watch animals writhing and being slaughtered; they don't want to admit they're responsible for such suffering."

Well, Stella's got the cojones, so to speak—and for that, we adore her. And speaking of One Can Make a Difference, Ingrid launched the book last night in New York at an extremely successful book signing. Check out the fantastic turnout and click here to order your own copy:

 

 

Written by Amanda Schinke

This news pretty much made my day. According to Britain’s The Independent, Madrid’s state radio and television network has left bullfighting off of its “obligatory programming” list for the first time since it started showing the bloody spectacle back in the deezy. The pro-bullfighting lobby was quick to announce that this is no big deal and won’t affect the popularity of the blood sport. The following is a transcript of an imaginary conversation I just had with the pro-bullfighting lobby:

You can read the full article here.

Sometimes in this line of work it's the small things that really hit home the strongest. Of course it's great to win major campaigns, but it's also great to see progress happening because people are starting to question archaic cruel practices on their own. Case in point: State-run Spanish television has quietly yanked live coverage of bullfighting from its programming, ending a decades-old tradition of showcasing the "national pastime" out of concern that cruel spectacle is just too violent for children.

Should they have taken it a step further and banned the bloodsport from national TV altogether? Of course. And do I wish they'd recognize that it's more than a little odd to even have a "national pastime" that is too violent for children to even witness on TV? Yep. But the reality is that progress usually comes in itsy bitsy baby steps, and this is most definitely a step in the right direction. It sends a clear message to the citizens of Spain and to the rest of the world that there is something very wrong with bullfighting. Of course, some people will whine about it, since some people just can’t deal with change of any kind, and there's not doubt that it will take many more years to rid the world of this hideous bloodsport, but it will happen, and this move by Spanish TV moves us that much closer. If they're looking for something to replace the bullfights with, maybe some footage of the annual Running of the Nudes in Pamplona would do the trick. Actually, maybe not, as the lawyers are screaming at me to warn you that if you're under 18 and you watch the video on RunningOfTheNudes.com, very bad things will happen to you.