On the final day of the Running of the Bulls in Pamplona Spain, two men were gored after a couple of bulls broke away from the pack and chased them through the streets, eventually catching them.  One of the men was seriously injured, having been gored through the leg.  Following the run, the bulls are herded into the bull ring where they are eventually killed.  The last person to be killed in this annual “festival” was a man from Madrid, who was gored in the neck in 2009.  Over the past 100 years, 15 participants have been killed.  That’s far better than the percentage of bulls, all of whom are eventually killed.

Bull fighting is a particularly cruel and inhumane undertaking.  It serves no purpose whatsoever, other than to demonstrate the cruelty of human being towards animals, animals who run only because they’re scared.  Ernest Hemingway gloried and immortalized the event in The Sun Also Rises.  He loved the spectacle that unfolded before him.  Of course Hemingway wasn’t all there, eventually taking his own life.

For Pamplona, this annual ritual is important for the local economy.  It draws tourists from all over the world who bring boatloads of money, so it’s easy to understand why they keep this event going year after year.  But let’s be clear, bullfighting is not sport, it’s cowardice in its purest form.  The matador, who is revered by his countrymen, is far from brave and heroic.  He is a coward or he would demand to face the bull, Mano A Bullo.  Of course that would be far too dangerous.  The bulls are already half dead before the so-called fighting begins.  If the bulls were not “prepared” prior to the confrontation, they would do far better than their records indicate.  Every year, I root for bulls to gore and maim at least a few of the morons, who derive some kind of testosterone rush from doing nothing more than demonstrating their stupidity.  This year there were a number of injuries.  Nine men remained in the hospital as of the final day of this grotesque event.  Go Bulls!!