DRAMATIC PETA PROTEST HIGHLIGHTS CRUELTY OF 'RUNNING WITH THE BULLS'

Pamplona, Spain – Caring individuals from around the world gathered in Pamplona's main square today, ahead of the Running of the Bulls at the San Fermín festival, wearing the event's famous white-and-red costumes and with their faces painted to look like the Grim Reaper. The protesters displayed "bloody" hands and multilingual signs that read, "You Run – Bulls Die" – a sobering message to festivalgoers that the same bulls who slip and slide down Pamplona's cobbled streets will all be stabbed to death in the town's bullring.

"Many of the tourists who come to Pamplona to run with the bulls have no idea that they are participating in a festival that celebrates the torture and death of these magnificent animals, and if they did, most would undoubtedly run the other way", says PETA campaign coordinator Kirsty Henderson. "We're here to ask thrill seekers to find another way to get their kicks that doesn't involve harming animals."

As shown in PETA's video narrated by Spanish music superstar Charo, each bull used in a fight is repeatedly speared and stabbed before the matador attempts to sever the exhausted animal's spine with a dagger. Sometimes, the bull drowns in his own blood before the dagger comes into play. Other times, he's still alive as his broken, bleeding body is dragged out of the arena and left to await slaughter.

Bullfighting has been on the decline for years, with attendance decreasing and bullrings closing across countries that permit bullfights. The industry survives only because of huge subsidies and tourists who unwittingly fuel the abusive events. A recent poll showed that 76 per cent of Spanish people have no interest in bullfights.

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For more information, please visit PETA.org.uk.