Bullfight Thornton 5/16/08

This is cavaleiro Alberto Conde, a wonderful horseman. He does a rare thing and places a bandilla on the bull immediately after it enters the ring. He misses a later pass, and unfortunately (in my opinion) dishonors the bull by striking it on the head in frustration for missing the mark. Still, he's a wonderful cavaleiro and this is my favorite ring in California.

Category:

Travel & Events

Tags:

• bullfight
• toreo
• cavaleiro
• rejonero

[MICHELOFGOD]

In these events bullfighters perform who torture and kill many bulls during regular bullfights.

Although the bullfights in America are supposedly bloodless, bulls and horses are still subjected to large amounts of abuse and stress and the risk of getting wounded.

[mayalibre]

@MICHELOFGOD -- If you play a sport, you are also "stressing" yourself. Stress is necessary to build a muscle or to develop stamina. Ask any doctor. Stress is a good thing. DIStress is what's bad. Do you think it would be better for a horse not to run? Or for a gymnast not to work out?  Perhaps you're a couch potato who would prefer that nobody, and no animal, anywhere, ever, moves or faces a challenge?

[MICHELOFGOD]

The bullfighting industry is losing ground in the bullfighting countries and that is why they are trying to export their bloody business to other countries. Since it is prohibited to torture and kill bulls in the United States, they have invented bloodless bullfights, to promote their sadistic industry in an "innocent" form.

[mayalibre]

@MICHELOFGOD Toreo is losing ground because more and more we are becoming an urban, industrial society, divorced from the land. People prefer beef that comes from the supermarket or McDonalds. They don't want to see or take responsibility for the bloodshed that feeds them. In rural corridas, the ranchers & farmers know how to evaluate bulls. The community decides, together, if a bull will be saved for breeding.

[MICHELOFGOD]

We must call for a PERMANENT BAN on all future bullfighting events planned in America and let the bullfighting industry know that America is not interested in bullfighting.

The bullfights that have already been organized in Las Vegas, Nevada were a big failure: only a few people attended the events and the bullfighting industry lost money.

This is reason enough to PERMANENTLY BAN all bullfights in the USA: people want this abuse and cruelty to STOP.

[mayalibre]

@MICHELOFGOD -- You're using Las Vegas as a standard? Las Vegas is the HEART of fake, petroleum, celluloid and silicone living! I was not surprised when they failed there. There probably would have been abuses -- and also baloney, like matadors pretending to do things that are "so scary" when they are not at all. TO ME it's sickening that we are so divorced from agriculture and the land that most people, including you, and me before, have no idea what it's *supposed* to be about.

[mayalibre]

@MICHELOFGOD Classically, it's not supposed to be cruel. Modern, commercial corridas though sometimes do have abuses. Toreros with integrity abhor those abuses. But in terms of "disgrace", it sounds like you think it's better for a magnificent livestock animal to be killed in secret, without any chance to show its cojones to the community in order to be seen as a superb animal that should be kept for breeding. Is that what you believe? That a secret slaughter without a chance is better?

[mayalibre]

@MICHELOFGOD -- Yes, make sure these magnificent animals continue to be killed in secret only, not in front of a community. Make sure NO ONE witnesses a death that will feed them. Be sure to tell your children that hamburger ONLY comes from under plastic wrap at the supermarket, or from McDonalds. And never look into how celebrity PETA advocates earn their money. You don't want to know that it's from petroleum, celluloid and silicone. The false life they sell is much better than the real one.

[mayalibre]

@MsHollywooddog It's interesting to note that PETA celebrity advocates are also often paid by the petroleum industry. Forget our connection to nature, and honoring the deaths that sustain us. As long as we have plastic, celluloid and silicone we're all set!!

[mayalibre]

@MsHollywooddog To make an impact and help reduce abuses, I recommend that people learn MORE than just PETA dogma. To be effective, they need to also learn the history, ideal & meaning of toreo, which many people are also trying to keep alive. Toreros with integrity NEVER want to torture the bull. Their goal is to show its magificence to the community. But we're not a rural people anymore, so we don't often know what we're seeing.

[mayalibre]

@MsHollywooddog People prefer beef that is either under plastic wrap, or which comes from McDonalds. They don't want to witness the death that feeds them, and they don't care if a magnificent animal is taken away in secret, put down a sterile chute, and slaughtered via a quick pellet in the head. As long as no one sees, we're happy. We think it's "cleaner" to have these *secret* deaths. Forget witnessing the power of the animal, as long as its death is tidy, at no risk to us, & we're kept comfy.

[mayalibre]

@MsHollywooddog -- Thank you. Toreo was completely alien to me & I didn't like the idea, but I'm an investigator & I don't like simply swallowing what other people say. So I did independent research, went to Spain, visited ranches, talked to vets, read the law, attended both rural & urban corridas. It's definitely not fun to see a bull die & there *are* some abuses, especially in commercial corridas. But it's also now shocking how ignorant I was about what it's SUPPOSED to be about.

[mayalibre]

@MICHELOFGOD If you are very concerned about bulls, you should note that they can no longer live free in the wild. We've screwed around with the environment too much. The habitat for genus bos is gone. That leaves only 2 other options -- they are livestock, or they are pets. Bulls don't cost very much, maybe a few $K. I'm sure if you want to save one from slaughter, a rancher who raises bulls, pays to feed them and maintain them, will sell you one for the same price they would get for the meat.