Yesterday the wider sports world reacted in a combination of shock, cringe and genuine concern as a video of a man getting blasted by a bull went viral.
The video, which gained millions of views and likes on Twitter and TikTok, shows a man at a bull run avoiding one bull with a spin move before getting trucked by another. Judging by his reaction at the end, the man was not seriously injured.
That bull is an absolute legend! 🙌
Play stupid games, win stupid prizes! pic.twitter.com/WWFlooptPZ
— You Absolute Clown (@clownabsolute1) April 17, 2022
But while many sports fans had some fun comparing the incident to an NFL defender obliterating an opponent, animal rights groups are not amused. Among those groups is People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA).
In an official statement shared with The Spun, PETA expressed disgust at the practice of bull running. The group described a litany of ways that bulls are mistreated, physically hurt and often killed during these events.
Here is PETA’s official statement (content warning):
Whatever this man felt is nothing compared to the terror a bull feels when he’s stampeded down a street and forced into an enclosed space with loud crowds surrounding him or the pain he experiences when he’s stabbed over and over again until he bleeds out, his spinal cord is severed with a dagger, his ear is cut off, and he drowns in his own blood. These days, most people, including locals, want bullfighting banned just like dogfighting, but reckless tourists keep propping up this dying spectacle of cruelty.
Bull running and bullfighting are both highly dangerous sports with elements of unpredictability that even some of the most extreme sports often don’t have safeguards for.
It should be no surprise that there have been over a dozen fatalities at the famed Running of the Bulls in Pamplona, Spain in the event’s history.
The event may be traditional, but there are probably better – and less dangerous – ways to have fun and get thrills.
The post PETA Releases Statement On The Viral Bull Video appeared first on The Spun.