one dead in pamplona bull run

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Posted: Fri Jul 10, 2009 5:15 pm

i heard on the bbc news that someone was killed in the pamplona bull run.

it's tragic for the man and for his family, of course.
but when i see the pictures, i can't help wondering why so many people think it is fun to engage in this bizarre custom.
after all, taunting dangerous animals in crowded streets is bound to be, err, dangerous.
i can only conclude they were all pissed out of their minds and incapable of making rational decisions.

for quite a few years i have been a member of a group [peta] which campaigns against animal abuse like the pamplona bull run.
but i think it is time to go mainstream and invite anyone who is concerned with human safety to campaign against it as well.
a total of 22 people have received the ultimate darwin award in pamplona in recent years,
not counting any who fell and had their wedding tackle crushed under the bulls hooves.

Baiting Guru Joined: 19 Apr 2007 Posts: 3123

It's a matter of choice. He knew the risks before he did it. We can't restrict idiots in these matters. That in itself is a violation of some human right Confused

Baiting Guru Joined: 11 May 2004 Posts: 2163

r2d2 wrote:

i can't help wondering why so many people think it is fun to engage in this bizarre custom.
after all, taunting dangerous animals in crowded streets is bound to be, err, dangerous.

If you catch the bull you may eat it

Posted: Fri Jul 10, 2009 5:41 pm

^^ Or make love to it.

Posted: Fri Jul 10, 2009 5:45 pm

I can't believe that in a Europe where health and safety means children have to wear goggles to have a conker fight, they let angry bulls with pointy horns rage around in streets full of people!

They should at least have corks on the horntips, and make the runners wear helmets and safety goggles.

If I were a tourist there, and joined in, I wonder what my travel insurance company would make of it?

It looks like a good time and place to arrange a ladmeet though.

Baiting Guru Joined: 11 May 2004 Posts: 2163

They should use three legged bulls as they cannot run that fast

Posted: Fri Jul 10, 2009 5:55 pm

Several hundred people are killed each year in mountaineering accidents.

Maybe that should be banned too.

Posted: Fri Jul 10, 2009 5:58 pm

Indeed... If you fall down, one of the bulls might penetrate you either with his lovemaking organ, either (more probably) with one of the horns.
I've seen some corrida pictures where the bullfighter was hit by the bull's horns either in (or between) the buttocks, either in his lovemaking organs. Laughing

Hmm... I guess that makes the bull a sadist and the bullfighters masochists. Laughing

Elite Baiter Joined: 16 Jul 2008 Posts: 1407

CowboyBuck wrote:

Several hundred people are killed each year in mountaineering accidents.

Maybe that should be banned too.

I agree. Especially if the mountaineer is killed by a falling bull that doesn't have corks on the end of its horns. Its outrageous to allow bulls to mountain climb anyways.

Posted: Fri Jul 10, 2009 6:31 pm

^^ too funny

Posted: Fri Jul 10, 2009 6:42 pm

Hmm, safety is good. Bullrunners should wear codepieces or full chastity belts, and bulls condoms on penis and horns. Preferably inflated, to act as airbags.

Posted: Fri Jul 10, 2009 6:55 pm

What this is doing is not only being mean to the poor, innocent bulls, it is increasing the amount of greenhouse gases in Spain! Not only do we have an excessive amount of bovine CO2 producers the humans as well are exhaling more by running! Then there are the barbecues use to cook up the beasties after the run! This is an evironmental disaster in the making! OH POOR MOTHER EARTH! THE HORROR! The only way to aver disaster is to increase Spain's unemployment rate by decreasing production thus stopping the carbon foot print of the factories and by that causing more people to sit down and respirate slower also reducing carbon emmissions. I don't think we need the G8...

Posted: Fri Jul 10, 2009 7:28 pm

@RC
Its only here in the UK that we are stupid enough to fall for all that H&S bullshit. Out foreign they couldn't give a sh*t!

Posted: Fri Jul 10, 2009 8:28 pm

R2, read your post more closely, I see you are member of peta! Wow, they are rather interesting group, ad campaigns and all. anthropomorhpism is a funny thing isn't it? I hope it doesn't offend, but I think assigning human emotions and thought patterns to animals is better left to compainion animals, not food.

Posted: Fri Jul 10, 2009 10:09 pm

@badgerbait - don't worry, i'm not easily offended - no one who campaigns for peta can afford to be Wink

yes, peta is an interesting group, but few of us are guilty of anthropomorphism - i'm certainly try not to be.
animals are driven by very basic emotions, like hunger, thirst, fear and pain, and have no choice about participating in these spectacles
[i assume it's not disputed that animals can experience hunger, thirst, fear and pain].
humans are the ones who can use higher emotions to decide whether to inflict fear or pain on animals,
or to participate in these rituals, or support them, or campaign against them.

@music man - i'm not remotely serious about the h&s angle, it's just an argument that might get this 'sport' banned eventually.
it's a sad fact that more people will be moved by the occasional death of a mindless idiot,
rather that the drawn-out ritual slaughter of thousands of animals for 'sport'.
my main concern will always been for the animals -
humans are <strike>intelligent enough</strike> stupid enough to choose to participate,
and they can take their chances as far as i'm concerned.

personally, i support the premise behind the darwin awards, and i don't shed a tear when the bulls score a point,
same as i wouldn't shed a tear when a scammer suffers a little pain.
i think most of us here are ok with the concept of natural justice,
even if we don't always agree on who deserves to receive it.

Baiting Guru Joined: 19 Apr 2007 Posts: 3123

Quote:

it's a sad fact that more people will be moved by the occasional death of a mindless idiot,
rather that the drawn-out ritual slaughter of thousands of animals for 'sport'.
my main concern will always been for the animals -
humans are intelligent enough stupid enough to choose to participate,
and they can take their chances as far as i'm concerned.

More people are moved by the death of a human being, rather than some violent animal they can't possibly have an emotional connection to. It's incomprehensible to me that people care more about their dog than their child. Example:

Dog jumps into rapidly flowing water. BOTH owners instantly follow, leaving a child(dren) behind.

I'll have to look up the particulars, but I know that DID happen. How can you love an animal more than a child? Rolling Eyes

EDIT:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/5308887/Baby-girl-orphaned-after-parents-die-trying-to-save-pet-dogs.html

Well, that's my daily puke in the bucket now - poor children Crying or Very sad

Posted: Fri Jul 10, 2009 11:02 pm

Craig007 wrote:

I'll have to look up the particulars, but I know that DID happen. How can you love an animal more than a child?

you're right - it did happen.
however, i seriously doubt that the adults assessed the situation accurately and rationally before acting.
if they had, they would have reached the same conclusion as me -
their welfare and that of their child[ren] should come before that of a dog.

however, i'm not sure why you are linking this story with the one i posted.
my story involved someone who chose to participate in an unnecessary and barbaric ritual, and paid the price,
whereas yours is a story about people who made a fateful decision based on noble but ultimately misguided motives.
despite what i said in my first post [i was being diplomatic] only one of these stories deserves to be called tragic [imo].

419Eater is my life Joined: 17 Apr 2009 Posts: 351

Bottom line. If you're crazy / stupid / overly excited enough to run into front of the best part of 1 ton of fully grown charging bull, any consequence has got to be fair game.

Baiting Guru Joined: 19 Apr 2007 Posts: 3123

The conversation evolved. I was just moving with that evolution Laughing

Posted: Sat Jul 11, 2009 12:10 am

Like r2d2 said,Darwin award winners here.Hopefully,they never had a chance to spawn before removal from the gene pool.Didn't evolution put instincts in us to get the hell out of the way of things like this unless we were hunting them for a good reason like survival?

Posted: Sat Jul 11, 2009 4:42 pm

Maybe the parents did good! The kids have learned a life lesson. Jumping into the river is not neccessarily the smartest thiong to do, 'specially if it is after an animal that has obviously decided to cut it's own life short. To quote Cesar, "They just didn't understand the pack rules." You don't wolf packs chasing after their pack mates who have gotten themselves into trouble!

Posted: Sat Jul 11, 2009 8:09 pm

We in the UK might not be allowed to be gored by somewhat pi**ed off bulls but we are allowed to roll a big cheese down a hill and chase after it.

Seems a bit unfair to the cheese.

Posted: Sat Jul 11, 2009 10:33 pm

^^^love that competition! The videos are always great for laughs! Still want to see vids of the pankcake races...are they as destructive?

Baiting Guru Joined: 19 Mar 2007 Posts: 2628

The dangers of pancake races depend on the participants.
You can get a fair whack to the head with a frying pan.

As I understand it the bulls at Pamplona go back to their fields after the event, the humans involved know whats going to happen so its a wash.
My family are mostly agreed on that apart from one who thinks its cruel, should be banned and another who would be chasing the bulls with a slice of bread in one hand and curry sauce in the other.

Elite Baiter Joined: 16 Jul 2008 Posts: 1407

uhhh Nanny....the bulls are KILLED after the "race". They run them into the statdium for the bull fights.

None of them survive. At least our President spares 1 turkey each year at Thanksgiving. Perhaps Spain should spare 1 bull?

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