An 11-year-old Mexican boy has killed six young bulls in a single fight, apparently becoming the world's youngest matador to achieve the feat.An 11-year-old Mexican boy has killed six young bulls in a single fight, apparently... more
A 16-year-old Spanish matador killed six bulls in one afternoon Saturday, pulling off a feat normally attempted only by seasoned veterans and winning trophies for his skill - ears from animals he had just slain.
Jairo Miguel Sanchez Alonso, who nearly died from a horrific goring in Mexico in 2007, smiled broadly and waved to a friendly hometown crowd after a pageant that took about two and a half hours.
A tall and slender boy who is also amazingly articulate for his age, he showed off his stuff in an arena called Plaza Era de los Martires, or Time of the Martyrs. The bullfighter, who goes by the stage name of Jairo Miguel, turned in his best performance with bull No. 5, a hulking black specimen that weighed 435 kilograms (959 pounds).
After skillful cape-work, he finished off the bull with a single deathblow from his sword, sliding it into a spot where it severed the beast's spinal chord. With the rest of the bulls he needed around three stabs.
MERIDA, Mexico (AFP) - Child protection and anti-bullfighting campaigners managed Thursday to suspend a battle between a Franco-Mexican child bullfighter and six young bulls due this weekend in southeast Mexico.
The city hall in Merida announced the suspension of the bullfight by Michelito, an 11-year-old bullfighting star, against six calves aged from one to two years, or "becerros."
The state human rights commission was studying the case following complaints from animal rights groups and child protection officials as well as an appeal for the fight to go on from the bullfighter's father, said Manuel Ibarra, a city hall official.
Several bullfights by Michelito were banned in France last summer after protests from anti-bullfighting associations.
Michelito's father, former French bullfighter Michel Lagravere, told AFP he hoped Saturday's bullfight would still go ahead.
"It's not a ban but a suspension," Lagravere said, adding that prosecutors would make a final decision late Friday.
Michelito has killed dozens of bulls in Mexico since he was six years old. The anti-bullfighting alliance in France said it had targeted him over other becerrada participants because "he fights in corridas aiming to kill."
Bullfighting is not a sport, sow hy is amateur bullfighting even permissible ? Most anyone should know that cow horns do hook. Apparently some of us either know or don't care. If your stomach can it, watch this video.Bullfighting is not a sport, sow hy is amateur bullfighting even permissible ? Most... more
Bloodthirsty 'sport' is dying a slow death across Spain, as younger audiences turn away
By Alasdair Fotheringham in Madrid
Sunday, 3 January 2010
Already faced with a rapidly ageing fanbase at home and widespread incomprehension and rejection abroad, Spanish bullfighting has suffered another major setback after the Catalan parliament voted to outlaw it completely across the region.
The decision was so controversial that some deputies hunched over their desks to hide their fingers from photographers as they punched in their votes. After a narrow initial victory for the abolitionists – 67 in favour and 59 against – the law could become effective as soon as May.
Spain's right-wing press was quick to attribute the result to Catalan separatists' desire to dissociate themselves from an activity often considered as typically Spanish as tapas, siestas and flamenco. Unofficially, though, even before Friday's decision, it seems bullfighting circles in the rest of Spain had given Catalonia up as a lost cause.
Over the past three decades, bullring after bullring has closed in major Catalan towns such as Gerona, Lloret de Mar and Tarragona, and in Barcelona only one of the original three rings remains. As far back as 1909, Barcelona hosted Spain's first anti-bullfighting protest, and by 2004 more than 80 per cent of Catalans were opposed to the practice. "Banning the bulls in Catalonia would be like drawing up a death certificate for a long-dead corpse," said Juan Ilian, a leading Spanish bullfighting correspondent for nearly five decades. "And even if they don't, it'll remain on its deathbed."
Animal rights groups amassed 180,000 signatures for a petition so that the vote could go ahead in Catalonia – more than three times the required minimum – but even the lobby's top activists are not sure how quickly the ban could extend to the rest of Spain. Antonio Moreno, president of Cacma, an animal rights association in the bullfighting heartland of Andalusia, said: "An overwhelming majority of Spaniards, 76 per cent according to Gallup surveys in 2009, are not in favour of bullfighting. However, only half that total want outright prohibition. The government promised six years ago to improve animal welfare laws, but it's been dragging its heels. It's only through legislation like in Catalonia that things are changing."
A lack of enthusiasm for bullfighting among younger generations is most likely to deliver the estocada – the killer blow, in bullfighting terminology. A recent survey showed bullfighting to be most popular among Spaniards in the 45-plus age group. And Spanish state television, TVE, has dropped it permanently from its schedule because, an inside source at TVE said, "it was considered too bloodthirsty for children to watch".
"It's not necessarily that younger Spaniards are more in favour of animal rights, they just don't care so much about bullfighting," Johanna Mayrhofer, an Austrian long-term Spanish resident and animal rights activist, said. "Bullfighting isn't part of their day-to-day culture, as it was for nearly all Spaniards a few decades back."
Long-term observers such as Mr Ilian recognise that while support for bullfighting remains healthy in strongholds such as Andalusia and Madrid, its mid-term prospects are grimmer. "There's a dedicated minority who follow it closely, and some bullfighters have a huge media presence, like rock or film stars, but the vast majority of spectators who go to a bullfight these days have no idea which fighter they're going to see," he said. "Instead, it's just become a show, and interest among the general public is dropping."
"It was banned in the Canary Islands in the mid-1990s, but there was already very little support there," Mr Moreno added. "This is the first big step on mainland Spain."Catalonia votes to ban bullfighting
Bloodthirsty 'sport' is dying a slow... more
Let me say this plainly: I like bullfighting. Five years ago, feeling fairly conflicted about the slaughter I had paid money to witness, I attended my first corrida in Seville, Spain.
Recently, an 11-year-old Mexican "bullfighter," goaded on by parents who make Brooke Shields' mom look overprotective, tried to establish a Guinness world record by killing six bull calves in one day in Merida, Mexico—despite attempts by the courts and animal protection groups to cancel the event.
Bullfighting is always cruel—the bulls are often beaten in the kidneys, have Vaseline smeared into their eyes, and are given laxatives to slow them down before they are released into the ring to be stabbed to death—but this was calf-killing. Like the child "bullfighter," Michelito Lagravere Peniche, these animals were still youngsters, but, unlike him, they didn't choose to be there and they didn't want to hurt anyone. They just wanted to prance and play. To make matters worse, hundreds of other kids were brought by their parents to watch the carnage and be encouraged to emulate the little matador (literally, "murderer").
The good news is that Guinness World Records takes animal abuse seriously and has refused to publish this new "record," saying, "We do not accept records based on the killing or harming of animals." Olé to Guinness!
"Some love the spectacle and tradition that it evokes and some, like me (perhaps it’s in the name?), think it is cruel barbaric and out of date. Bullfighting.""Some love the spectacle and tradition that it evokes and some, like me (perhaps... more
Getting naked to draw attention to your cause isn't a novel idea. PETA seems to hold stripped down demonstrations pretty regularly, and over the weekend an anti-bull fighting group in Madrid dressed themselves up in fake blood and not much else in an effort to raise awareness of animal cruelty involved in bullfighting. Theirs is a noble cause, but I'm wondering if their message would be the same if they protested in more than their underpants. What say you, dear readers? Does protesting au naturel help or hurt your cause?Getting naked to draw attention to your cause isn't a novel idea. PETA seems to... more
Is this just tradition or just sick? You featuring:
Poke Me Mon
Spirit possession, body piercing, and fire walking are all rituals that take place on the island of Phuket, Thailand each year to honor the Chinese Gods during the annual Vegetarian festival. http://current.com/items/88901914_poke-me-mon.htm
Female Genital Cutting
Mariana van Zeller takes a look at the tradition of female circumcision in Africa. She travels to rural villages in Sierra Leone with an activist who faces a tough battle to put an end to the practice. http://current.com/items/76362762_female-genital-cutting.htm
Animal rights activists stripped naked and covered themselves with blood in a protest over bullfightsAnimal rights activists stripped naked and covered themselves with blood in a protest... more
Bullfighting is the most indefensible type of animal abuse. Our footage shows in horrifying detail what happens at these events. Dare yourself to look at the following videos and slide shows. You will not be able to deny the cruelty and pointlessness of what you see here.
Bullfighting is not a fight at all. It's a systematic torture killing that pits a gang of armed thugs against a lone, frightened, and wounded animal.
Bulls are not the only creatures to suffer in bullrings. The tormented bull does not understand that it is the man on the horse's back that is causing his pain, only that he is in agony. He therefore sees the horse as his enemy as much as the man.
It's not unusual for horses used in bullfights to be so badly gored by the bulls that they have to be killed, but only after they have been dragged from the ring and the view of the spectators.
This is the fate of these beautiful animals. To be used to entertain a crowd that lusts for blood and claims that bullfighting is a tradition and "cultural heritage".
What about the "brave" matadors, picadors and their ilk? Bullfighters are rarely injured and seldom killed in the ring. With their armory of weapons to weaken the bull until it can no longer fight, their lives are not at grea
hould you ever find yourself in a country where bullfighting is practiced, please do not be tempted to attend one of these sadistic displays. The continuation of bullfighting depends on government subsidies and the tourist industry. Don't be an accomplice to this savagery by supporting it with your dollars.
SHARK's documentary videos expose the shame of bullfighting and the cowardice of all those involved.t risk. In fact, in the last 50 years only 10 bullfighters have been killed worldwide.Bullfighting is the most indefensible type of animal abuse. Our footage shows in... more
Six animals belonging to the Domecq family died after petrol bombs were put in their horseboxes. Six others took years to recover from serious burns.
But they were not the intended target, prosecutors said. The hitmen were meant to kill those of another man.
Police said the crime was unprecedented in the history of mounted bullfighting.
The Domecq family has reportedly requested a sentence of three years in jail for those responsible, plus compensation for the loss of the six horses.Six animals belonging to the Domecq family died after petrol bombs were put in their... more
Frank Evans known as El Ingles has defied doctors' orders and stepped out of retirement and into the bullring just months after a quadruple heart bypass operation and knee replacement surgery.
He says he can resist the allure of the fight no more and will make a return to bullfighting after three years of retirement.
Comparing the sport to an "old girlfriend", he said: "She is more beautiful than she was before. Irresistible."
He is the only Briton to have reached Matador status, the profession's top level, and he has killed hundreds of bulls, some weighing up to 700 kilos.
He said: "I am just delighted to be back. I just want to be back doing what I do and that's living the life of a bullfighter."
Frank Evans known as El Ingles has defied doctors' orders and stepped out of... more
Ernest Hemingway called it "Death in the Afternoon," and for Cayetano Ordonez, one of Spain's top bullfighters, it was almost just that when a 1,300 lb. bull critically injured him during videotaping of a 60 Minutes segment. Ernest Hemingway called it "Death in the Afternoon," and for Cayetano... more
Italian designer Giorgio Armani has designed a glittering costume for 31-year-old Spanish bullfighter Cayetano Rivera.
Rivera will wear the satin "suit of lights" when he takes part in the "Corrida Goyesca" bullfight in Ronda, Andalusia on September 6. The suit is made in Armani's hallmark shade of greyish beige embroidered with sequins, crystals and silver thread.
Rivera comes from a family of famous bullfighters; it was Pablo Picasso himself who designed the suit of lights costume for Cayetano's grandfather Antonio Ordonez for the same event around 50 years ago.
Italian designer Giorgio Armani has designed a glittering costume for 31-year-old... more
Local authorities in southern France have banned two non-lethal bullfights involving a child matador said to have killed 60 young bulls in Mexico, the BBC reports.
The matador known as Michelito, aged 10 and fighting since the age of six, had been due to face calves that are not put to death in Fontvieille and Arles.
However, the shows were stopped for security reasons.
Anti-bullfighting campaigners said the boy risked injury. They also cited laws limiting the work of children.
Michelito, whose full name is Michel Lagravere Peniche, said he was disappointed by the bans.
Michelito's father, Michel Lagravere, accused the anti-bullfighting group of picking on his son because he was "in the media spotlight".
"It's like if someone asks a kid who plays football not to play," the boy told French news agency AFP.
Um, is it really? Is kicking a football around the same as chasing a terrified animal around and stabbing it until it dies? Really? Local authorities in southern France have banned two non-lethal bullfights involving a... more
Child bullfighting has become popular in Mexico, where there are no age limits for matadors. (This film contains footage that may be disturbing.)Child bullfighting has become popular in Mexico, where there are no age limits for... more
The annual running of the bulls begins in Pamplona today and animal protesters have invaded Spanish bullrings.
Campaigners claim that this truculent and sanguinary sport is no longer followed by the general public (a recent poll found that 72 per cent of Spaniards have no interest in bullfights).
PETA and other groups hope to mobilise their compatriots and obtain the abolition of tauromachy.
The annual running of the bulls begins in Pamplona today and animal protesters have... more
