Worcestershire Woman Strips In Protest Of Bullfighting In Pamplona

For Immediate Release:
28 June 2011


Contact:
Sandra Smiley 0207 357 9229, ext 229; [email protected]


This Sunday, wearing dark brown and black bodypaint, approximately 150 protesters will lie on the ground to form the shape of a bull in Pamplona’s main square before the start of the Running of the Bulls. Some of the protesters will wear bright-red paint to represent the bloody injuries suffered by the “bull”. This arresting visual will provide a striking photo op.


Activist Abi Izzard, from Malvern, will be among the scores of people from around the world participating in the demonstration, which is being coordinated by Spanish animal rights group AnimaNaturalis with support from PETA.


“Tormenting and butchering animals for entertainment is straight out of the Dark Ages”, says Izzard. “People all around the world agree that mutilating animals for amusement is unacceptable.”


Prior to the Running of the Bulls, electric prods and sharp sticks are used to goad the bulls into a frenzy. After the event, the animals are tormented and slaughtered in the bullring. In a typical bullfight, men on blindfolded horses drive lances into the bull’s back and neck, impairing the animal’s ability to lift his head. Others plunge banderillas – sticks with harpoon points – into the bull’s back. Finally, after the animal has become weakened from blood loss, the matador arrives to stab the bull to death – or nearly so; some bulls are still conscious when they are chained by the horns and dragged out of the arena.


Opposition to bullfighting is mounting. According to a 2009 survey, 76 per cent of Spaniards showed no interest in attending or supporting bullfights. Last year Catalonia became the latest in a long list of locations around the world, as well as the second region in Spain, to implement a ban on bullfighting.


Where:  Plaza de Consistorial, Calle Nueva and Calle de Jarauta, Pamplona


When:  Sunday, 3 July, 12 noon CET