Video of Burning Bull Prompts PETA Push to End ‘Fire Bull’ Festival (Toro Júbilo)

Medinaceli, Spain – After receiving disturbing footage recorded by animal protection group AnimaNaturalis of a frightened bull with blazing balls of fire attached to his horns during this year’s “fire bull” festival (Toro Júbilo), PETA entities are rallying their 9 million members and supporters worldwide to contact Soria province authorities and demand an end to the annual event in which participants tie a bull to a post, stick balls of pitch (a sticky, black substance made from coal tar or petroleum) onto his horns, and set them on fire.

Images are available here.

Every November, noisy crowds taunt, cheer, and dart around a burning bull as he runs, terrified, through the streets. These bulls often smash into walls in panicked attempts to escape the fire, which can remain alight for hours, scorching their horns, eyes, and body and causing them tremendous stress and pain. In 2022, the bull died after the event – his body was then dragged away so the festival could continue.

“Attaching balls of burning pitch to a live animal is barbaric and puts a stain on Spain’s reputation in the international community,” says PETA Vice President for UK and Europe Mimi Bekhechi. “PETA is calling on Spanish authorities to put an end to this violent bull-burning festival and replace it with a new celebration that leaves animals in peace instead of in flames.”

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, X (formerly Twitter), TikTok, or Instagram.

Contact:

Lucy Watson: +44 (0) 20 7837 6327; [email protected]

#