Cruelty at Every Turn: Man Dies at Bull-Running Event in Onda, Spain

A man has reportedly died after being gored at a bull-running event in the eastern Spanish town of Onda. The 55-year-old suffered a head wound and a punctured artery in his left thigh during the Fira d’Onda festival, which forces bulls to run into a chaotic mob of people who taunt and chase them.

This fatality was an inevitability after these violent events recommenced following COVID-19 lockdowns, but human fatalities are, of course, not the only deaths at bull runs and the subsequent bullfights. At least 16 people have lost their lives during the San Fermín festival in Pamplona, and thousands of bulls are killed each year during these sickening displays of human cruelty and arrogance.

This death serves as a reminder that bull running and bullfighting need to be shut down immediately – for the sake of humans and bulls.

Bull Running Leads to Tragedy for All Involved

Many people don’t realise that bulls forced to run along these slippery cobbled streets are later stabbed to death in the bullring.

Every year, approximately 40,000 bulls are violently killed in bullrings across Europe and 250,000 animals are stabbed in bullfights worldwide.

Bullfighters taunt, exhaust, and stab each bull with a lance and several harpoon-like banderillas until he becomes weakened from blood loss. Then, the matador stabs the wounded animal with a sword, and if he doesn’t die straight away, other weapons are used to cut his spinal cord.

Many bulls are paralysed but still conscious as their ears or tail are cut off to be given to the matador as trophies.

The Spanish Government Must End Bullfights Completely

The bullfighting industry is in steep decline: 93% of 16-to-24-year-olds in Spain say they don’t support bullfighting, and over 100 towns have banned it.

Following this news, PETA rushed off a letter to Onda Mayor Carmina Ballester, urging her to replace the running with the bulls event with an exciting activity that’s safe for everybody: a “running of the balls”.

In its letter, PETA has offered to buy the town massive balls painted to look like bulls for an Indiana Jones-style race called a boloencierro, which is gaining popularity in Spanish towns that have shunned cruel and violent events involving live bulls. In this version, festivalgoers race in front of the tumbling spheres and try to stay out of their way. The balls pick up “quite a lot of speed” as they move but pose no risk of harming or goring participants.

Send the Prime Minister a Message

Onda council has cancelled all further bull running planned for the festival, but Spain needs to take action and shut the industry down permanently.

Send the Spanish prime minister a message now urging him to end bull running and bullfighting to save the lives of bulls and humans:

Take Action

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