MP for Bristol East, Kerry McCarthy and the Humane Society International have hailed the historic decision by the Catalan Parliament to ban bullfighting as a victory for animal welfare and congratulated the Catalan Parliament for responding to its citizens’ calls to put an end to this outdated tradition in their region.
This momentous decision follows from the Initiative Legislative Popular launched by the Catalonian animal protection platform PROU! in 2008. Although only 50,000 signatures were needed to force a parliamentary vote, more than 180,000 Catalonian citizens signed the ILP calling for a Catalonian bullfighting ban.
Joanna Swabe, HSI EU director, comments,
“Today’s vote has put the final nail in the coffin of Catalonian bullfighting. Humane Society International hopes that other regions in Spain will soon follow suit and finally relegate the public torture of these magnificent animals to the annals of history.”
With this vote, an exemption for bullfighting will be removed from the existing Catalonian animal protection legislation. This means that bulls and horses, who have suffered enormously in the bullring, will finally be granted the same degree of protection as other agricultural animals in Catalonia.
The animal suffering involved in bullfighting was highlighted in a recent letter sent by the Humane Society Veterinary Medical Association to the Catalan Parliament in response to unsubstantiated claims in a non-peer reviewed article that bulls do not feel pain during bullfights and that pain perception can be bred out in a line of animals.
More than 140,000 animal welfare supporters across the globe demonstrated their support for the campaign by signing a petition asking Catalan politicians to heed the wishes of their citizens and vote to end bullfighting in the region. The signatures, collected by HSI and the World Society for the Protection of Animals, were handed to Ernest Benach, President of the Catalonian Parliament, on 26th July 2010.
Kerry added her name to a letter signed by other Labour MPs and MEPs sent to Catalan politicians in which it stated:
“Your citizens have spoken: they would prefer to see a culture of animal protection, rather than animal cruelty.”
Kerry welcomed the news that the ban had been passed saying:
“Labour MPs fought to ban fox hunting in this country and tackling other blood sports internationally is the logical next step. Through international pressure and condemnation we can bring an end to these inhumane traditions. This ban represents major progress in this fight.”