Video Reveals Matador Gored to Death in “Sport” That Takes 40,000 Lives
Over the weekend, numerous news outlets around the world reacted in horror to the fatal goring of an infamous matador. But anyone who’s even slightly familiar with this blood sport knows an agonizing death occurs every time that a bull is forced to fight.
Iván Fandiño met his somber end while bullfighting in southwestern France. The 36-year-old matador tripped on his cape and was gored by the charging bull, who punctured his lung.
An independent medical source reported that Fandiño suffered two heart attacks en route to the hospital, where he later died. Along with Víctor Barrio Hernanz, who was killed last July, Fandiño is the second Spanish matador to die in the ring in the past year.
These deaths are lamentable, but we need to keep in mind that these bulls are tortured and never have a chance of surviving.
Bullfighting is a cowardly event, and it’s an inaccurate term for highly staged spectacles in which there’s very little competition between a nimble, sword-wielding matador (Spanish for “killer”) and a confused, maimed, psychologically tormented, and physically debilitated animal.
While the matador chooses to attend the event—and can leave at any time—the bull does not. He’s often weakened by beatings with sandbags and debilitated with laxatives, and his horns may be shaved and petroleum jelly rubbed in his eyes to diminish his ability to judge distance.
Bullfighters torment disoriented, frightened animals and cause them excruciating pain by driving lances into their back and neck muscles, stabbing them repeatedly with a sword, and finally—when the bulls are reduced to a quivering mess—driving a dagger into their spinal cords.
This happens to approximately 40,000 bulls every year.
On the very same day that Fandiño battled this last bull, he posed for a photo with a severed bull ear from an earlier fight. We can only imagine how many lives he took over the course of his career as a professional killer.
What You Can Do
If you’re traveling to France, Mexico, Portugal, or Spain, never attend a bullfight, bull run, or any other event in which these noble animals are terrorized and abused. Share this page and spread the word that bullfighting is a senseless, gruesome spectacle that should end immediately.
