Toro Jubilo
All sentient beings deserve the right to lead peaceful lives, in which they are not exploited for another’s benefit or entertainment. Unfortunately, beings in the animal kingdom have often been the victims of such exploitation… from being skinned alive for their fur, to being the subject of experiments, slaughtered for food, and even tortured in the name of entertainment.
One example of animal cruelty that is present in today’s “modern” and “evolved” world is the Gadhimai Festival, which is conducted in the name of religion.
Another cruel practice is the Toro Jubilo in Spain, where some who “enjoy” the suffering of animals continue to promote this practice under the guise of “culture”.
Traditions are passed down from generation to generation as started by our ancestors, and were, at a point in time, believed to be in the best interest of the people. However, while it is important for us to preserve our individual cultures and traditions, it is necessary to contemplate… what are we trying to preserve and is the cost worth it? Do we really want to preserve something that causes so much suffering and which is filled with brutality?
As time goes by, change is inevitable. What our forefathers deemed beneficial in the past may not be relevant today. If preservation of culture is the only argument in favor of such a brutal practice, how is it any different from those who wish to continue the traditions of human sacrifice and slavery?
I hope everyone who reads this article will take the time to sign the petition that calls for an end to this cruel festival. In the Toro Jubilo festival, not only are two burning balls of fire attached to the bull’s horns, the bull is also tormented and tortured for more than forty minutes, and eventually brought to the slaughter house. Such practices are no longer acceptable in today’s society as we should all strive towards compassion and morality in our lives.
I request you to sign the petition to end the Toro Jubilo festival. It will take less than five minutes of your time but will make a huge difference in the lives of these animals. Thank you.
Tsem Rinpoche
Sign the petition here: STOP BURNING BULLS ALIVE IN SPAIN!
Pictured: Grotesque Spanish bull-burning festival where baying crowd straps flaming wooden horns to terrified animal. . . in the name of entertainment
[Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2232031/Toro-Jubilo-The-grotesque-Spanish-bull-burning-festival-animal-rights-campaigners-want-banned.html]
A terrified bull writhes and bucks as flames lick around its head moments after it is set ablaze – all for the entertainment of a baying crowd.
Shocking new images have emerged of a barbaric annual Spanish bull burning festival which animal rights campaigners are demanding be banned.
The sickening Joy of the Bull – or Toro Jubilo festival – is one of the ‘cultural’ highlights of the entertainment calendar for residents in the Medieval village of Medinaceli, in the province of Soria, north east of Madrid.
Terror: The terrified bull bucks and writhes around the makeshift bullring while men goad the animal - all for the entertainment of the crowd
Traumatic: Quivering with fear, the distressed bull is tied to a post and set alight during the 400 year old Toro Jubilo (Joy of the Bull) festival
Every year, from around four centuries, people flock to watch a young bull be dragged into a makeshift ring in this grotesque ritual.
There, it is pinned to the floor, while men strap wooden stakes doused in flammable chemicals to its horns, and set it on fire. Then local men show their bravery by tormenting the terrified animal.
This year’s festival, which took place on Saturday, was no different. More than 1,500 people crowded behind barriers and strained for a view of the cruel spectacle.
A bullring is constructed in the main square and sand scattered on the floor. Several bonfires are built in preparation for the arrival of the bull.
Crowd pleaser: Village of Medinaceli, in the province of Soria, north east of Madrid, more than doubles in size as hundreds gather for the annual spectable
In the name of entertainment: As fiercely hot sparks and embers drip from the burning torches tied to its horns, the bull looks around in stunned bewilderment
At 11.30pm, the fires were lit using paraffin and the three-year-old bull, named Liebro, was dragged in on a rope held by many men dressed in grey uniforms.
It was tied to a post by its horns and a plank of wood attached to a metal bar doused in pitch – a highly combustible mixture of turpentine and sulphur.
Fiercely hot sparks and embers drip from the burning torches onto the bewildered animal.
The distressed bull is then released, thrashing around the ring to the cheers of the crowds.
Goading: Young men taunt the creature in the barbaric celebrations known as the Joy of the Bull
Exhausting: Young local men take turns to provoke the terrified animal for around 45 minutes
Members of the public are seen jumping into the ring and taunting the bull – adding to its terror and confusion.
Gasping for air, the bull finally reaches a state of exhaustion after nearly 45 minutes of torment and is soon dragged out of the ring by villagers to be butchered.
The men in the grey uniforms are awarded pieces of meat from the animal for their ‘bravery’.
Authorities in the Spanish regions of Leon and Castile have designated the festival a special cultural status.
Ordeal: As the agitated bull attempts to flee, it clatters through one of the bonfires raging in the temporary bullring of Medinaceli for the village's annual festival
Hellish: The poor three-year-old bull, named Liebro, thrashes about the makeshift bullring in a desperate bid to extinguish the flames
But this has not stopped campaigners in Spain and Britain to call for it to be banned.
‘This barbaric festival causes the animal phenomenal stress and fear,’ Mark Jones, vet and UK executive director of the Humane Society International told the Express.
He added: ‘The animal would be incredibly frightened by the whole process. In this day and age people shouldn’t be using animals in this way for their entertainment and they shouldn’t be using culture as an excuse for cruelty.’
Barbaric: Caked in dust and dirt, the weary animal pauses for breath as the wooden horns soaked in flammable chemicals spit white hot sparks into its face
Exhaustion: Gasping for air, the bull reaches a state of exhaustion after nearly 45 minutes of torment and is soon dragged out of the ring by villagers.
Sign the petition here: STOP BURNING BULLS ALIVE IN SPAIN!
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It is very disturbing and disgusting to see how the bull was abused for human’s entertainment and pleasure. How can inflicting pain on to another life bring pleasure? This is how sick human’s mind is.
It is true that we have to preserve our culture. But we have to be sensible also. Some customs or traditions such as Toro Jubilo is not making sense at all as the whole event is about torturing a bull. The bull was set on fire, teased, agitated for human entertainment. It was a living hell for the bull, he was tortured and tormented while people are cheering for his sufferings. He must have so much fear in him in the whole process.
There are many things we can do to entertain ourselves, we can watch a movie, go for a walk, read a book, there is really no need for us to inflict pain on another life. We say we want world peace, we complain about too much violence in this world, if we continue to maintain a culture of inflicting pain on another life, how is world peace possible? We have to start to develop and cultivate good virtues and stop practicing violence such as activity like Toro Julio.
If we could just imagine ourselves in the shoes of the terrified abused animals for even 5 minutes, we would not want to suffer like them. Yet out of the “fact” that we are now human and get to enjoy a more superior condition of life, including the power to use animals as entertainment and food, we gladly turn a blind eye to these blatant sufferings. Buddhism taught us that, the imagination of being in the shoes of the animals is a possibility, not mere imagination; for we could have our chance to become like them in our next life. When our body dies, our mind will live on and be reborn in a new body. In that body, we could be anything, even an animal, depending on the actions we do in this live. Since we perceive that animals are living in a worse off condition, naturally the more negative action we do now, the likelihood for us to be reborn as an animal is higher. Therefore, thinking in this way, why would we still want to/participate/support any kind of animal cruelty or abuse. This, includes eating them. Be a vegetarian.
Very cruel and barbaric way to hurt those poor animals for money and entertainment.They deserved to live without sufferings. The Toro Jubilo in Spain, is one cruel festival where ,the poor bull will be tossed with fire and thrashing around the ring ,watched by people cheerings it.
May the spanish government stopped this barbaric festival burning bulls alive soon.
Thank you Rinpoche for sharing these awareness of such a cruel festival still happening in Spain.
Thank you Rinpoche for highlighting this article. This is really a barbaric actions of the Spain people who celebrate the Toro Jubilo festival. These torturing of animals for festival purpose should stop at this new modern life. There so many other ways to celebrate a festival and entertainment.
With folded palms,
Vivian
It’s appalling how cruel the people are. In a developed countries such as Spain, one would think barbaric acts like this would be banned by now. Unfortunately, being a developed country doesn’t necessarily equate to the people being more conscious of animal welfare or have more compassion to others.
Definitely sign the petition to stop the abuse. Many animals suffer because of the human species. We eat them. We skin them. We use them for entertainment. And we have many justifications of why we have the right to do so. Imagine being reborn as an animal and go through the sufferings that human beings inflict on animals. It’s barbaric and cruel.
Will keep these words in my mind that “All sentient beings deserve the right to lead peaceful lives, in which they are not exploited for another’s benefit or entertainment. ”
Not only human but the animals also need to have freedom. Feel sad to see this kind of inhuman treatment towards the animals.
Thank you Rinpoche for this sharing. I have signed the petition and share to the public via FB and twitter. Sincerely hope that many people will know and aware what is happening in other country with this cruel action.
It is really very sad to hear that even in such modern times with thousands of other things to keep us entertained that doesn’t involve hurting other living beings, this barbaric festival still goes on without any hesitation just for the sake of entertainment and amusement.
I find it very gross and inhumane at the way they tie wood dipped in flammable liquids on to the bulls and then set the wood alight causing the bull to panic.
It’s hard to imagine that even before Liebro and other bulls are slaughtered the pain and suffering they go through all for the amusement of the people that attend this inhumane festival.
Another thought also is, when families take this as a family outing, It’s hard to think of the images that the parents are planting in to their kids.. it is something like bringing kids to a horror movie, It will plant images of terror in to them.
It is really revolting to see that even in the modern days we have people doing all sorts of ghastly things to beings.
This is the year 2015 and we live in a civilized age.
You should take a look around and see, how many people do these kind of things and how many people don’t. What’s more it has been proven that animals can and do feel pain, thus how would you feel if i tied i stakes to your head and set it aflame? I know some of you might answer that you’ll scream or call the police. If they had police for bulls, If the bulls could talk in human language everything would change.
Just because animals don’t have a voice, it is no excuse to torture them.
Just imagine if animals had their own police everything would change. It would make people think twice before they hurt animals.
For now all we can do is pray and hope that these sort of cruel things would stop without further delay.
It is just so sad that in such an advance time like this we still result to such barbaric that is still practiced in our society just for the entertainment and fun of human beings. It is sad and disgusting. We are so advance in so many ways, yet our personal growth and development has yet allowed us to realise that actions like this is very bad.
How would these people that enjoy this “sport” feel if they are in the shoes of the bull? The kind of horror that the bull is going through in them. This “sport” should be banned. It does not make any sense at all that how could the people that are torturing the bull still be given an award for their “bravery”. What bravery is there when they are exploiting the animals’ fear? The true bravery will be doing something to stop such acts. It is insane.
Through the bull’s eyes we can tell how much fear it has, it knows that it will die soon, and yet to be tortured in such ways before it’s death is inhumane. From the last few pictures it can be seen that the animal has already given up. Yes, they are animals. They might be lower then us because they are not able to fight back. However, we should never be treating someone or something that is weaker then us in these ways. We are suppose to constantly help them to relieve them from their existing sufferings, not adding more for them.
This is truly a sickening entertainment of madness and insanity which the proper authority should ban in the name of today’s civilised World society, if we are! This so called the “Joyful Bull” act is all bull-shit and filled with pain of Madness and tortures, which many seem to enjoy and feel obscessed by it. Why don’t these people try it on their own loves ones for their own entertainment and see whether they enjoy it too! Om Mani Padme Hung.
This is horrible, how can people do this? Culture and the traditions of a country are none of my business but why? Traditions are what people thought were right in the development of a country but in this modern day and age, we should see and only keep the good traditions and see whats bad to others and not to just satisfy ourselves.
What is brave about provoking and bullying a confused and abused animal. The award of the meat of the poor animal should symbolize the cowards and posers that try to be “brave” in safety. The animal is killed anyways and not taken care of for the horrible ordeal. Why are we so cruel, all that just to kill the poor animal? Wow…
Why are humans so selfish? We are so cruel only for ourselves and we think so single-mindedly. Does nothing matter to us? Why can’t we share this world with others instead of rallying other earthlings in cages and killing them for our needs. Sign the petition to show that you are not one of these people. Make the change in ourselves then we can spread it to others.
Dear Rinpoche,
To think that people still use these medieval cruelty methods on animals as entertainment is just sickening. This is the 21st century. One would think that we would have moved past these by now. The fact that they want to preserve something like this is wrong. What we should be preserving are the sacred teachings that all great, wise teachers like Buddha, Jesus, Aristotle and etc. have taught throughout the years.
Your numble student,
Keng Hwa.
This is horrendous and cruel beyond words! I have signed the petition.
I have signed.
Please help the terrified animals. 🙁
Humbly,
Stella