Corridas, Novilladas, in Beaucaire as elsewhere in the South of France, bulls die in front of children

Corridas, Novilladas, in Beaucaire as elsewhere in the South of France, bulls die in front of children
07.08.2021
Gard
Corridas, Novilladas, in Beaucaire as elsewhere in the South of France, bulls die in front of children
Corrida

Having received images of the July 25 Beaucaire novillada from whistle-blowers, we are publishing these damning images. With these photographs of these six young bulls’ last moments before being put to death by teenage bullfighters, one of these one-day spectators gave us his testimony.

The bulls die, as they always do in French arenas, in immeasurable suffering, under the cheers of their torturers and without understanding what is happening to them. Very young children attend these spectacles, which are deleterious to their psychological development, and are trained to do so. Others, barely of age, even take part in executions of extreme brutality and violence. From now on, our society should be putting up safeguards for young people, until these unjustifiable and barbaric practices are banned outright.

Investigations and images that continue to denounce these barbaric practices

We have never ceased to condemn bullfighting. From the first demonstrations in the 1990s alongside Théodore Monod, when the association was still called Aequalis and Talis, to the long partnership with Jean-Pierre Garrigues, to today, in the face of this novillada, a rite of passage for young bullfighters, which took place in Beaucaire. So, on July 25, our activists were raising public awareness with images from our investigations, both the one entitled “Bullfighters in the making”, and the 2019 one at the Nîmes bullfighting school, both conducted undercover. 

And we won’t stop until it’s a thing of the past. In reality, bullfighting is torture for the animals concerned, even if legally it benefits from a “cultural” exception, and constitutes a harmful spectacle for everyone, first and foremost children, a particularly vulnerable audience.

Ennui, dégout et pitié

For this whistleblower, who was attending a show of this type for the very first time: 

“Convinced that we shouldn’t allow ourselves to judge what we haven’t experienced, I took the plunge and went to the Beaucaire arena with a friend. […]

My predominant feelings could be defined as follows: boredom, disgust and pity. Pity for the animals, who were obviously wondering what they were doing there, but also pity for the spectators, who applauded with ridiculous gravity at every sword stroke that signed the agony of a young bull. Couldn’t they hear the chilling cries of pain from the animals? Didn’t they see, after the picador’s work, the gaping wounds from which blood gushed in geysers?

I remembered the aesthetic discourses of people I knew who were bullfighting enthusiasts: tragedy, beauty, philosophy. I even read up on the aesthetics of bullfighting… But all I saw was a disgusting, nauseating butchery, repeated six times at factory speed. As soon as one poor beast was killed, another would make their entrance, just as bewildered as the previous one.”

Children don’t have the reflex to protect themselves

“I was surprised to see, as soon as I arrived, the presence of children, some of them very young, with their parents. […] I thought that the emotional charge described by bullfighters was not suitable for children. I’m now convinced of it. However, what I saw was still below what I had sensed about the issue.

Barely a few minutes after the first bull entered the arena, he sent four men who were harassing him flying. Some adults hid their faces in their hands. The children received this vision in all its brutality. They had no reflex to protect themselves. What did they understand? What did they feel? I don’t know, but it questions and bothers me.

One of the bullfighters ended up in his tights on the sand, his ballet flats flying off on impact. […] It was grotesque and terrible.”

Apart from the bull, who bled to death under the sharp points of the weapons, none of the participants was seriously injured.

“Embellishing this slaughter with quasi-mystical philosophical considerations reminds me of Napoleon’s remark to Talleyrand: “Here, sir, you’re nothing but shit in a silk stocking.””

Our 2009 report is sadly still relevant.

We’ll be present again this summer at the Béziers Feria on the afternoon of August 14,  alongside Colbac, our partners in FLAC. Join us !

One Voice against bullfighting: coordinated action in thirteen regions!

One Voice against bullfighting: coordinated action in thirteen regions!
07.07.2021
One Voice against bullfighting: coordinated action in thirteen regions!
Corrida

For the past twenty-five years, One Voice has been campaigning against bullfighting in France, firstly to prevent the bulls from suffering and dying, and secondly to ban access to bullrings and the participation of children in this torture. To this end, a day of coordinated actions in thirteen regions will take place on July 10. The animal rights organization is calling for a nationwide ban on bullfighting.

Bullfighting is considered a traditional spectacle where violence is trivialized. These torture sessions stimulate the aficionados in the audience, among whose ranks are even children, brought by their parents to witness these bloody scenes. These “shows” should constitute acts of cruelty and serious animal abuse, and therefore be punishable under the penal code. However, they benefit from an exemption in the regions where they take place, as they are, according to French law, part of a “continuous and uninterrupted” local tradition.

Whether on foot, on horseback or Portuguese-style, bullfights always torture and kill bulls in public or behind the scenes. There are several types: bécéradas with 2-year-old calves, novilladas with 3-year-old calves, and corridas with 4-year-old bulls. These are all very young individuals who are sacrificed in public. When we investigated bullfighting schools for children in 2012 and 2019, we saw adults forcing frightened children to take part in the unspeakable, and very young bulls put to death by teenagers.

What’s normal about killing an animal or watching them being killed? Bullfighting clearly contributes to the trivialization of violence. Far from being sport or art, these practices are abominable, and we demand that they be banned throughout France, without exception, rather than subsidized by town halls in search of local entertainment.

• Videos and petition (supported by our partners) on our 2019 Nîmes bullfighting school investigation website
• Our 2012 “Toreros in the making” investigation
• Our 2009 report

Events:

Please check the dates, times and venues on the day on the corresponding Facebook event, which will be updated, as sometimes prefectures change them at the last minute.

Region	Town	Facebook Link		Place		Time
05	Embrun	Event link		Lieu-dit « Plan d’Eau »		Sunday 11/07 2:30 to 5pm
06	Nice	Event link		La Coulée verte, Le Paillon		4:30 to 6pm
08	Charleville-Mézières	Event link		Rue Pierre Bérégovoy		2:30 to 4pm
13	Aix-en-Provence	Event link		Allées Provençales		11am to 12:30pm
14	Pont d’Ouilly	Event link		Devant L’Épicerie Du Coing		2:30 to 5pm
17	La Rochelle	Event link		Place de la Caille		2:30 to 4pm
33	Bordeaux	Event link		Quai de la Garonne		Sunday 11/07 12pm to 5pm
34	Montpellier	Event link		Place de la Comédie		2:30 to 4pm
57	Metz	Event link		12 Rue du Petit Paris		3 to 4:30pm
59	Lille	Event link		Grand’Place		2:30 to 4pm
67	Strasbourg	Event link		Rue des Grandes Arcades		2:30 to 4pm
69	Lyon	Event link		Place Saint-Jean		3 to 5pm
75	Paris	Event link		Place Edmond Michelet		2:30 to 4pm