Brendan Hughes

What's your view?

The main Lisbon bullring is about to reopen after 6 years of closure. It's been redeveloped as a shopping mall, but will still have bullfights. The Portuguese say the difference is the bull is not killed in the fight, but the opposition say it's just killed afterwards instead. Animal rights groups are up in arms about a 20m euro redevelopment of a Sadists' Palace.

Reality

No place for this in a civilised society.


Should be fine for Portugal / Spain.

davegtt

Completely agree, Spain and Portugal have old ways of thinking. Let them carry on with it and the rest of us can consider them to just be a country full of savages. No different to other backgrounds doing things like sacrificing a lamb for their religion etc

Paul3446

Will they throw a donkey off a church roof at the official opening?

OllyK

Who are we to dictate what other nations should be doing, next thing you know we'll be invading muslim states and trying to force a western POV on them - oops!

JTaylor

I'm an animal lover; I quite literally won't hurt a fly. I recall being really quite disturbed when I watched what happened behind the scenes at a bull fight on the outskirts of Malaga. The bulls take a bit of a wacking before they get into the ring, then they get stuck left right and centre and then they have their brains stirred. Despite my horror at watching this, I'd defend to the hilt the right of the locals to practice this 'sport'. When they decide it's no longer for them, then so be it.

RussBoy

I live just outside Malaga now and have to say I'm not very keen on the concept either. But at the end of the day it's a blood support and until very recently it's was considered perfectly acceptable in the UK (I left in October 2005) for a bunch of toffs on horses to chase a fox across miles of openland with packs of dogs in tow and then once caught allow the fox to be ripped to pieces.

It's a big tradition in Spain and ironically, a lot of these fights are staged because of the demand from tourists! The Spanish have a strange approach to animals as a whole - they LOVE their horses and will spend thousands on care and saddlery etc, but other animals can be quite badly abused which is very sad to see. The Spanish also see the British as being too soft on animal welfare and their opinion is that they are just a disposable commodity.

Personally, I hate all animal cruelty but as JTaylor quite rightly states, it'll be over when the Spanish/Portugese want it to be....


R

Lee247

I think it is barbaric and cruel and I would never ever go to see one
But, it is their tradition and it is none of my business to interfere with that. It is their right to carry on.
Just like it is our right to have our traditions carried on

Flatcapdriver

None of our business. Personally, I'd like to get my hands on a few ALF members and show them what cruelty is really like.

Leslie

I watched one once in Algeciras and found it so disturbing that I had to leave. It was less unpleasant when one of the toreadors got a horn between his legs and was thrown! That slowed him down for a bit.

It is their tradition though and its up to them in the end.

Les

Diablo

Hmm...

Apparently its traditional in certain societies for women and young girls to be circumcised, thus maiming them for life and puting them at serious risk of death from infection and leading to all manner of complications when giving birth.

That'll be ok then, because its tradition. And who are we in the "civilised" society to complain.

Leslie

Should we walk in on those societies and forbid them to do it Diablo. I hate the idea of such goings on too but it is in a different league to bullfighting anyway. I would agree that it should be outlawed in our own country of course.

Do you drive a Beemer then? Looking at your location.

Les