Bullfighting - A Barbaric Sport In A Civilized World

BBC News - Rampaging Bull Injures 40 in Spanish Arena

40 people were injured when a bull suddenly jumped out of the arena and leaped into a crowd of Spanish spectators. The bull was taken under control after running wild on the stands for several minutes and was later killed. The accident brings up the controversy about bullfighting again.

Some believe that bullfighting is a valuable cultural tradition that shouldn't be banned. Bullfighting was developed more than two hundred years ago and it indeed has a very long history. However, in the civilized world of the 21st Century where we can have almost every entertainment we want, is it still necessary to keep such a tradition that takes away the lives of innocent animals to please ourselves?

According to the World Society for the Protection of Animals, around 250,000 bulls were killed in the rings every year. That means 250,000 innocent bulls were stabbed by the lance and tortured to death while the excited spectators applause for the brave matador's glorious victory. Is this a kind of sports that we "civilized" humans should appreciate? Some may say the deaths of those bulls are nothing compared to the deaths of commercial cattle for our consumption. That might be true, but at least cattle in commercial farms won't need to endure unnecessary pain before dying, and there won't be a pack of excited crowd cheering for their deaths. Moreover, even if the situation of animal welfare is just as worse in commercial farms, does that give us a justified reason to keep this kind of cruel sport running?

The accident shows that bullfighting doesn't only cause problems in the aspect of animal welfare, but also endanger the spectators' safety. So why continue this kind of entertainment? Do we really have to see somebody risking his life to combat with a raged animal or a wild animal being slaughtered to be satisfied? All living things created by Mother Nature are equal and no intelligence or technology can put us in a higher position than the rest of other lives. We don't have the right to torture innocent animals to death just for our own pleasure. This is brutal and barbaric. "Civilized" humans, let's all stop this kind of selfish act and learn to respect lives.