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Every year in Soria, Spain, on the second weekend in November, bulls are set on fire and released onto the streets. A sticky black substance is placed on the horns of bulls and set on fire only for locals to watch the animal run around in pain, often smashing their heads into walls to try to put the fire out.

Source: euronews/YouTube

Spectators in Medinaceli cheer and run around the animal at the “traditional” event called Toro de Fuego, which means “bull of fire.” or Toro Jubilo which means “Joy of the Bull” –

Animal rights activists have called for a ban on the festival. An Animal rights group in Spain called PACMA has said that it is taking legal action against the organizers of the event.

“This grotesque tradition continues to be celebrated even though we are no longer in the Stone Age,“ it tweeted.

Locals, mostly men, dress up in grey uniforms and drag the bull into a makeshift bull ring that is set up in the main square of the town. They tie the bull to a wooden pole and attach balls of highly flammable tar to the horns. One man pulls on the animal’s tail while they apply the tar. Just before midnight, they cake mud on the bull’s back and face to try to protect it from the flames. They set their horns on fire and released the animal into the square. The crowd cheers as the bull shakes frantically. Men jump around the ring in an attempt to dodge the bull.

This went on for around 20 minutes until the horns went out, and the bull collapsed. The animal was dragged out of the ring. Traditionally, the animal’s life is ‘spared’ at the end, but this year, the animal died after another young bull, which organizers sent into the ring to guide him out, rammed him in the head.

Please visit PETA’s website, where you can send a message to Spanish officials to urge them to cancel this sadistic event permanently.

Animal groups have repeatedly called for the government to ban these bull festivals as they are endangering the lives of the locals and causing abuse to the animals.

The animals who are forced to run are not willing participants. They, too, can suffer serious injuries, but these concerns seem to be disregarded since the event is all about “fun” and “adrenaline.”

Cows are exploited in every way all around the world, from being mass-produced for the meat and dairy, and leather industries to being used in barbaric rituals that involve them running with lit torches on their heads or being brutally stabbed and ultimately murdered in an arena for the “entertainment” of fans of bullfighting, our beloved bovines are treated like mere objects rather than the sensitive, emotional, sentient beings they are.

Sign this petition to call for Spain to stop the mistreatment of bulls for “entertainment”.
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