Describe This Cruelty in Two Words or Less ... August 13, 2009

Posted by Ryan at August 13, 2009 12:37 PM | Permalink | Comments ( 84 ) | TrackBack

Check out this new undercover investigation, operated by Animal Equality—an animal rights organization based in Spain—and then let us know your reaction below.

How would you describe what you just watched—in two words or less?

I'm going to have to go with "fucking barbaric". What about you?

Hundreds Killed in Spain July 15, 2009

Posted by Ryan at July 15, 2009 10:20 AM | Permalink | Comments ( 22 ) | TrackBack

all creatures / CC

As you may have heard, for the first time in nearly 15 years, a human died after being gored by a bull at this year's Running of the Bulls in Pamplona, Spain.

Anybody have a guess how many of the bulls died this year after being gored by humans?

All of them.

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.

Now, I'm no Alberto Einstein, but it seems to me that when a blood "sport" like bullfighting (or "bullstabbing", as I call it) revolves entirely around provoking and torturing animals, some humans are bound to get hurt too, or even die.

What do you think? Is this a fluke tragedy, deserving of sympathy for the human victim? Or is it the inevitable result of hosting a cruel event that routinely tortures and slaughters hundreds of animals?

Naked in Times Square June 25, 2009

Posted by Ryan at June 25, 2009 10:20 AM | Permalink | Comments ( 12 ) | TrackBack

I'm often asked what the craziest thing I've ever done with PETA or peta2 is. For me, that has to be when I participated in the world-renowned "Running of the Nudes" protest against bullfighting in Pamplona, Spain, a few years back. 600 naked people running through cobblestone streets, showing that it's possible to have a great time without torturing animals? Amazing.

Most people are horrified to learn that more than 40,000 bulls are killed each year in this cruel Spanish blood sport. Even the name itself is misleading; since when is it a fair "fight" when a man with a sword tries to kill a drugged and confused animal? They might as well just call it "bullstabbing".

That's why I'm so excited that PETA and its affiliates are holding protests all around the world, drawing attention to this "tradition" of death. Yesterday, more than 35 brave protesters took to the busy sidewalks of New York's Times Square, sporting just their underwear, with banderillas (decorated barbs or flags used by bullfighters to stab bulls) sticking out of their backs.

Picture time!

Pretty sweet, right?

So what do you think? Would you go naked for a protest, to speak out against cruelty?*



* Assuming you're over 18, of course.

Spain to Grant Legal Rights to Great Apes June 30, 2008

Posted by Marta at June 30, 2008 5:13 PM | Permalink | Comments ( 6 ) | TrackBack

Los animals no son nuestros para comer, llevar, experimentar, o usar para diversión!

Any Spanish speakers in the house? If so, please join me in a huge round of felicitaciones for our friends over in Spain. No, not for their big Euro 08 soccer win, although that was pretty sweet too. The Spanish Parliament have begun the process of passing groundbreaking legislation granting great apes the rights to life and freedom. Read that sentence again. Great apes. The right to life and freedom. I know. It's incredible.

Susanad813 / Creative Commons
It'll be a while before the law passes, but once it does, it means that it'll be illegal to perform harmful experiments on great apes in Spain, as well as use them in circuses or movies & television. In Germany, the basic rights of animals have been guaranteed by the federal constitution since 2002, but this new law in Spain marks the first time specific rights have been granted to individual non-human animals.

For a country where some people still get their kicks by forcing pissed-off bulls to chase them around town, this is a pretty amazing step forward. The world is changing as we speak, people. Viva la revolución!

—Dan