should you understand anything about culture, you would understand something about running in front of the bulls in spain.
there`s much to do in many fields about injustice and a non balanced world than complaining about billfighting.
but that´s just like all the things there are to do instead of treating animals like people...
cheers,
n.

Posted by: natasza | July 5, 2007 03:31 PM

It is terribly disappointing to read yet another lame excuse for animal abuse as "culture" by someone like natasza

Is it any wonder that there is so much injustice if the ignorant and backwards think that such abuse can just be explained away as cultural entertainment?

People who abuse animals very often treat other people unjustly.

There is no hope for humanity if the uncivilized continue to spit on society and commit abusive acts

Shame on you natasza.

Posted by: kelly | July 5, 2007 05:01 PM

Even seeing just a couple of these pics it looks like an absolutely brilliant turn out and what a great idea it is. I just want to congratulate everyone who organised and took part in this event your all stars. All going well if its on next year i'll be there

Posted by: alan | July 5, 2007 06:41 PM

kelly, where are you from?
have you ever been to spain?
people with prejudice often judge other's people thougts as wrong just by not knowing what they're talking about.
i don't support frivolous thinking, nor i'm ashamed of having a position about things, although it's not the trendy one.
superficial thinking about things that are not understood is something to be ashamed of, moreover when you try to apply that thinking into other's people's minds not really knowing what you say.
do you really consider animals at the same level than humans?
i still think there are differences. i'd kill any animal to save your life, would you do the same for anyone you care?
don't spit so much restrained hate on people's oppinion, kelly, there's nothing to be ashamed on sharing thougts.
cheers,
n.

Posted by: natasza | July 6, 2007 08:41 AM

natasza:
defending the abominable badtreatment of animals during bullfight shows a really villain character: bullfight has nothing to do with culture but with dirty business. there are just the ganaderos - the landowners - in spain who want to keep the business running. i was in spain and i know the situation because i talked with hundreds of people who are against bullfights and other who approve them! these animals have no chance at all. before the 'fight' they are mutilated, blinded and beaten with sand sacks and the banderillas in their neck are laming their muscles. they open the stomach of the horses with their horns. so it is also a criminal awful action against the horse who was all the time the most humble, loyal and devoted friend of men! loving bullfights is an evil illness called 'nekrophilia' that means people who just can be sexually stimulated by seeing blood! if you still aprove such a criminal and insane 'entertainment' then please know that me i would not save you but the bulls!!!

TORTURA NO ES CULTURA ! ! !

Posted by: The Don | July 6, 2007 11:16 AM

Natasza, you said this in one of your posts: "i'd kill any animal to save your life, would you do the same for anyone you care?" I think many of us, though I don't presume to speak for them, would defend the lives of someone we loved. If a pit bull was attacking mine or anyone's child, and my only choice was to kill the dog, of course I would do it. Same if any wild animal was attacking a human (even if the "wild animal" is a human intruder--I'm a big believer in the "castle doctrine"). But there is a BIG difference between killing an animal in defense of myself or others, and torturing animals for no other reason except for "entertainment" and "culture." HUGE difference!

Viva PETA for a great turnout!

Posted by: BullyDawg | July 6, 2007 11:38 AM

Ok -- rather than argue here, I'd just like to say -- sometimes you have to pick your cause because there IS so much injustice in the world. To give one cause all of your effort is sometimes better than giving EVERY cause a little effort. In most of our cases, we chose animal rights. There's nothing wrong with that, as long as we give it our best.

And damn, do I wish I could have been there :-P

Posted by: Stevie | July 6, 2007 12:07 PM

I grew up in Colombia. The Bullfights where I lived lasted two weeks (nine fights daily) during the chrismas season. I attended many fights over the years and I have never seen a horse injured by a bull, because they had padding surrounding them. Even in a fight where three Bullfighters fought from horseback, with thier mounts unpadded there were no injuries to the horses.
I did, however, witness many bullfighters who were injured. (The fighters weigh in at hundreds Lbs, the bulls at tons.)
The cultural significance of the bullfight was an amazing part of my youth and I strongly feel that there are other more serious issues that PETA should be concerned with. Rather than trying to ban a cultural event,like Bullfighting, that has been part of the fabric of that culture for Hundreds of years. The Running of the nudes is a little too gimicky and ineffective.
LA

Posted by: lori Andersen | July 6, 2007 12:39 PM

to lori andersen:
obviously you have just one thing common with pamela - the lastname! furthermore i have to tell you this: after the bullfights - have you been behind the scene for to see the horses unwrapped? go to tell your fucking story to another sucker - you dummy!!!!!!

Posted by: animalfriend | July 6, 2007 01:51 PM

to all the defenders of coward bullfight this here: read the book of nobel prize winner ernest hemingway: 'Death in the Afternoon'! actually he was an admirer of this shame but at least he spoke the truth: there's everything coward cheating and brutal manipulation behind it and the horses are just covered in order to avoid the audience seing their intestines hanging out of the belly - and imagine: this is not from me but from ernest hemingway - you bloody primitive m***** f******!!!

Posted by: rosario marrapodi | July 6, 2007 02:01 PM

Bull fighters, dog fighters, cock fighters--they are all the same scumbags, no matter where they come from. I feel very sorry for anyone who derives their sense of national or cultural identity from activities which foster animal abuse. It is time to move forward, Natasza and Lori. Surely Spain and other Latin countries have more to offer the world than this???

Posted by: Kelley | July 6, 2007 02:20 PM

Kelley. Telling somebody to move forward from their culture is one of the most ignorant things posted here. Yeah this is sad but it is something that they grew up with. Just because you dont agree with what they grew up with doesn't give yopu the right to talk down on another person's culture. Cheap shot on your last sentence. Think about what you said when youre eating paella.

Posted by: Robert | July 6, 2007 04:39 PM

I call bullshit, Robert. If your culture has a tradition that's fucked up, then it's a fucked up tradition. That's just the end of the story.

For more on this topic, please see such popular traditions as "slavery" and "female genital mutilation." Or how about "throwing the Christians to the lions?" Some traditions just need to be eradicated, and there's no point dancing around the issue. Kelley has every right to talk down about bullfighting. Sorry, but "culture" is a shitty excuse for committing atrocities.

Posted by: Geoff | July 6, 2007 04:59 PM

Every year participants are injured or, at times, killed, by the Bulls in Pamplona. That is fine by me they are obviously a bunch of masochists and sadists and deserve what they get. It is criminal what these animals are forced to go through and the Spanish people should hang their heads in shame to allow such brutality. To claim Bull Fighting is part of the culture only shows how some countries are still living with the mentality of the middle ages. The Running of the Nudes celebrates life and hope and the other represents death and despair.

Posted by: Maureen | July 6, 2007 06:18 PM

Robert--if it looks like a duck, quacks like a duck, walks like a duck, etc., it is a duck. Animal abuse is animal abuse, and I don't care what arguements you use to pretty it up with. Using the excuse of "we've always done it that way" is lame. I am glad you were not on the Supreme Court when they were deciding Brown or any of the other landmark Civil Rights cases. You probably would have voted to keep segregation instead of in favor of changing OUR society for the better.

Posted by: Kelley | July 7, 2007 10:34 AM

im going next year!!!!

Posted by: doug | July 7, 2007 05:00 PM

this blog is really something.
ok, i see, the logical goes like this: disaproove everything you ignore, compare extremes, be unrespectful with those you disagree, call names to appear more self secure, support your point of view with notyhing but fury, show disdain to those different, lie about what you don't know (those who don't know either will maybe follow you), repeat mottos, leave logic and experience aside, use big words, use stereotypes (they spread like powder), feel part of something by joining in but not asking yourself, be negative (it's easier than being thoughtful), do not pay attention to anything but what you say, keep calling names.

whenever you forget the fact that people are able to think, you become an animal.
whenever you treat a person like an animal, you become an animal.

i still preffer to be human, erratic and respectful. i still see dialogue as a way to understand things, and i would never think you're all a bunch of motherfucking fascist ignorants supporters of naif and vague philosophies.

cheers to all of you,
n.

Posted by: natasza | July 8, 2007 06:50 PM

Whatever happens in Spain is not either your business or your concern, if you are not a national of this country

Posted by: anton | July 9, 2007 02:53 AM

anton:
yo soy espanol y te digo que las corridas de toros son criminales! comprendes? tortura no es cultura!

T O R T U R E I S N O T C U L T U R E !!!!!!!

Posted by: alma espanola | July 9, 2007 12:48 PM

i posted something yesterday but it seems that the moderator didn't consider it too good to put it up, although i didn't call names to anyone.
keep the good vibes, you'll go far.
n.

Posted by: natasza | July 9, 2007 07:04 PM

my mistake
apologize to the moderator
n.

Posted by: natasza | July 10, 2007 12:59 PM

Spanish culture that includes animal abuse and cruelty:The way they treat the poor galgoes, the way they treat the bulls before and after the bullfights and the way they treat the horses and their foals in the: Rapa das Bestas una Fiesta de caballos en Galicia. I saw it on a spanish television channel, where they even let a boy ride on a foal, and they forced the horses to lie down in a very cruel way almost like the cowboys do in rodeos.
And besides that, the way they treat their farm animals in Spain in general, nothing to be proud about.

I really wish that their one day will be a common improved animal welfare protection law, which shall be in force of all the EU countries.

I live in Denmark.

Posted by: Marianne Christensen | July 11, 2007 08:51 PM

Spanish culture that includes animal abuse and cruelty:The way they treat the poor galgoes, the way they treat the bulls before and after the bullfights and the way they treat the horses and their foals in the: Rapa das Bestas una Fiesta de caballos en Galicia. I saw it on a spanish television channel, where they even let a boy ride on a foal, and they forced the horses to lie down in a very cruel way almost like the cowboys do in rodeos.
And besides that, the way they treat their farm animals in Spain in general, nothing to be proud about.

I really wish that their one day will be a common improved animal welfare protection law, which shall be in force of all the EU countries.

I live in Denmark.

Posted by: Marianne Christensen | July 11, 2007 08:51 PM

Kelly, are you joking? You cannot compare brown v board with animal rights. Know why? Because they are fucking animals. Not humans. None of us here are for the brutal killing and senseless torture of animals. Understand that, Kelly. However, we do see humans above animals. We are better.

Posted by: M | November 4, 2007 01:47 AM

Whatever happens in Spain is only the spaniards business and concern. We dont need anyone to give us lessons in philantropy mostly if they come from people in whose country , it is possible to ride the lighting for murder
The day that bullrun are banned in Spain, There will be 5 star hotels on Mars

Posted by: anton | February 5, 2008 04:06 AM