Giant Inflatable Bulls to Chase Protesters With Message for Obama at White House

PETA Will Urge President Not to Attend Cruel, Archaic Event That Leads Terrified Bulls to Be Killed in Bullfighting Arenas

Contact:
Sophia Charchuk 202-483-7382

On Wednesday at the White House, two life-sized inflatable bulls will chase a dozen PETA supporters wearing the traditional Running of the Bulls white outfit with red sashes and carrying a giant sign that reads, “Obama: Say ‘No’ to Running of the Bulls.” The action comes in the midst of speculation that President Barack Obama’s upcoming trip to Spain will include a stop at the San Fermín festival’s annual bull run, during which dozens of bulls are struck and terrorized as they slip and slide down narrow streets on their way to be violently killed in Pamplona’s bullring.

Where:           The White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. N.W., Washington

When:             Wednesday, July 6, 12 noon

“Each of the bulls terrorized in the streets of Pamplona goes on to experience a torturous, excruciating death in front of a screaming crowd in the bullring,” says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. “PETA urges President Obama not to attend or support this archaic display of violence and gore that the vast majority of Spaniards condemns.”

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to use for entertainment”—notes that in a typical bullfight, as many as eight men taunt, beat, and stab a single bull with daggers and harpoon-like banderillas until he becomes weakened from blood loss. The matador then stabs the exhausted animal with a sword, and an executioner cuts his spinal cord. Many bulls are paralyzed but still conscious as they are chained and dragged out of the arena.

For more information, please visit PETA.org.