After Bull Run Death, PETA Proposes ‘Running of the Balls’

After Bull Run Death, PETA Proposes ‘Running of the Balls’

Animal-Friendly Revamp Would Save Lives, Group Tells Mayor

Onda, Spain  – Following news that a man was gored to death in a bull run at the Fira d’Onda festival over the weekend, PETA rushed off a letter this morning to Onda Mayor Carmina Ballester, urging her to replace the dangerous, deadly, and cruel ceremony with an exciting activity that’s safe for everybody: a “running of the balls”.

In its letter, PETA offers 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 group points out that the balls pick up “quite a lot of speed” as they move but pose no risk of harming or goring participants.

“This man wasn’t the first to die in a bull run, and unless Onda does away with this cruel spectacle, he won’t be the last,” says PETA Director Elisa Allen. “PETA stands ready to help the town organise a fun, family-friendly dash that’s kind to bulls and bystanders alike.”

More than 125 Spanish towns and cities have rejected the tormenting and butchering of bulls for entertainment. But at festivals like Fira d’Onda, bulls are subjected to confusion and terror and risk injury from crashing into barriers and walls, falling and breaking their legs, or colliding with each other.

PETA – whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to use for entertainment” – opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETA.org.uk or follow the group on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.

Contact:

Sascha Camilli +44 (0) 20 7923 6244; [email protected]

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