Madam, – The Campaign for the Abolition of Cruel Sports (CACS), welcomes the historic decision by the parliament of Spain’s Catalonian region to ban bullfighting (World News, July 29th).
We hope this will prove to be a first step towards the abolition of this bloody and depraved practise in the rest of Spain.
Catalonia will now never again witness a form of so-called entertainment in which a noble creature is literally tortured to death in public for the pleasure of a blood-thirsty human throng.
The image promoted by some tourist agencies of a brave matador skilfully evading the raging bull in a battle of man against beast is erroneous in the extreme.
The bull is considerably weakened before he meets the matador, first by being beaten over the kidneys and having Vaseline rubbed into his eyes and then by repeated stabbing with razor-sharp lances and darts.
By the time the matador gets to plunge his sword into the bull, the animal is already close to exhaustion, bleeding from numerous wounds, and in agonising pain.
While welcoming the Catalonian ban, however, we in Ireland have no cause to point the finger at Spain for as long as we permit the barbarity of live hare coursing, a practise in which animals are snatched from their natural habitats, held in unnatural captivity, and terrorised for “sport” at public venues.
As with bullfighting, apologists for hare coursing argue that it must be preserved and nurtured because it is part of our “tradition”, as if that could justify organised barbarism.
That pathetic excuse didn’t convince a majority of the members of the Catalonian parliament, and neither should it hold sway in Dáil Éireann. Let’s follow Catalonia’s example by banning a blood sport that shames our nation. – Yours, etc,