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Alarms went off at PETA when we learned that filming for Tom Cruise's upcoming movie, Knight and Day, included the use of live animals to recreate Pamplona's infamous and cruel Running of the Bulls. The Mirror reports that seven bulls used for the production in Spain escaped and injured two women.

We hope that Mr. Cruise will share our concerns when he learns how animals suffer in the annual Running of the Bulls. As human runners and spectators gouge the bulls with sticks and pull their tails, many bulls slip on the pavement and/or slam into buildings, breaking their horns and legs. In their desperate attempts to escape their tormenters, bulls sometimes gore and trample people. As if that weren't enough cruelty, bulls later dragged into the bullrings are repeatedly stabbed and bled to weaken them by bullfighters who sever the animals' spines while the animals are fully conscious.

Will Tom Cruise do as we've asked and use his influence and help bulls by encouraging producers to cut the scene from the film? I believe that PETA's effort is definitely a Mission ImPossible. What do you think?

Updates will follow.

Posted by Karin Bennett

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Buñol's annual Tomatina festival

Looks like a lot more fun than this:

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Pamplona's annual Running of the Bulls

Posted by Shawna Flavell

Celebrate by watching this Creole (not cruel) "Running of the Bulls."

Posted by Karin Bennett

For the first time in nearly 15 years, a human has died after being gored by a bull at the Running of the Bulls.

How many bulls have died this time around as a direct result of being gored by humans?

All of them.

banbloodsports / CC

Every year, all bulls who are sent charging down the narrow, winding streets of Pamplona end up in the bullring. We're not talking about one bull here. We're talking hundreds and hundreds over the course of 15 years.

Nobody has died at the Running of the Nudes.

You do the math.

Watch video footage of the Running of the Bulls and goring here.

Posted by Shawna Flavell

banbloodsports / CC

It turns out that bombed bull abusers are scaling back their bar tabs. This means fewer euros for merchants during this year's Running of the Bulls. In the past, these businesses have cashed in on the annual torment and killing of hapless, hopeless bulls. But this year, the global recession means that local businesses won't be making as much of a profit from the misery of the bulls.

Not only that, but according to NPR, polls show that most Spaniards have no interest in bullfighting. In Catalonia alone, nearly 200,000 people have signed a petition asking the regional parliament to ban this barbaric "ritual."

While this is hopefully the beginning of the end for an industry that should have died off with the Spanish Empire, you can save money and animals by doing more than simply tightening your belt. Sign up to take that belt—and the rest of your clothes—off altogether as a member of PETA's Action Team. It won't cost a dime, but the potential to raise awareness is priceless.

Posted by Shawna Flavell

If our protest in the middle of New York City's Times Square wasn't enough anti-bullfighting action for ya, just wait until you see the pictures from this mother-of-all-protests in Pamplona, Spain, yesterday.

Two hundred "bloodied" and bare bodies from all over the world (I'm not exaggerating—we're talking U.K., Australia, America, Sweden, Spain, Denmark, Germany, Italy, Poland, Austria, Ukraine, Belgium, Norway … you get the idea) gathered outside the Pamplona mayor's office in protest of the horrible abuses that bulls suffer during Pamplona's nine-day festival of San Fermín.

Before the Running of the Bulls, workers use electric prods and sharp sticks to rile the bulls into a frenzy. Then, the bulls are often debilitated with tranquilizers and beaten before being taken into the bullfighting ring—where they are repeatedly speared with banderillas (barb-tipped wooden daggers) before being stabbed to death.

Help us put an end to this bloodbath.

Posted by Shawna Flavell

No, it wasn't a resurgence of hookers, but PETA's "bloody," "dying" babes were out to solicit New York City tourists—for compassion for the bulls who will be taunted and tormented by drunk morons during the upcoming Running of the Bulls in Pamplona, Spain. After the bulls are sent stampeding in terror through the streets of Pamplona, they will be dragged into the bullring to be mutilated and killed for the "entertainment" of cheering crowds.

Local and international media crowded around our "bloody bulls."

Causing this kind of commotion in Times Square is no small feat.

Bright lights, big city, huge turnout! Well done!

Similar demonstrations have been held in Paris, London, and other cities around the world. You can check out some NSFW action shots from similar demos here.

Pamplona's "festivities" kick off July 7, which is just around the corner.

Posted by Karin Bennett

Upset about the torture of bulls, over 60 activists from across the globe, including some Americans, got completely downright naked and protested against the encierro, or the Running of the Bulls, in Pamplona this weekend. Notice any recurring themes in the protest tactics of animal rights folk? That's right! We're pretty good at, ya know, getting noticed.

Lying down near the end of the Running of the Bulls route and dressed only in black underpants with matador barbs protruding from their backs, the activists dramatically highlighted the immense cruelty and suffering that bulls endure. These half-ton animals are chased through crowded, winding, and sometimes rain-slicked streets while runners and spectators hit and taunt them. The bulls often crash to their knees or collide with walls in their panic. It's seriously sad, sick "hey, look at me, I'm a man" stuff that we're dealing with here, folks.

Even though Spain was recently in our good graces for their compassion to apes, the Running of the Bulls is a massive blemish on the country's reputation, and it needs some serious rethinking. Even Spanish TV stations know what's up, and they refuse to air this hideous event. Maybe Pamplona's mayor could learn a lil' somethin'-somethin' from the folks at Red Bull?

For more information, check out RunningOfTheNudes.com, and take a look at the below pictures from the demo.

Posted by Robbie LeBlanc

When our Campaigns department heard about a bull run taking place in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, they sprung into action, immediately firing off a letter to the Mayor asking him to cancel the event permanently. Well, I’m happy to report that the city has agreed to do just that! Way to go R&I.

For those of you who read Spanish, you can check out the letter from San Miguel de Allende Mayor Jesús Correa Ramírez below. Thank you Mr. Ramirez!

And just a quick note to the city of Pamplona: The world is changing and you’re getting left behind . . .

Here’s the letter.