BAN BULLFIGHTINGNEWS

An Irish Council Against Blood Sports / www.banbloodsports.com newsletter. Summer 2009

ICABS welcomes PaddyPower's decision to finally dis-pense with these grotesque betswhich were available to punterson the Spanish section of thePaddy Power website.In one of our letters of appeal tothe company, ICABS stated: "Wefind it absolutely grotesque andin the poorest of taste the PaddyPower company's acceptance ofsuch bets. As people are placingbets on the Paddy Power web-site, tortured bulls are stumblingaround the bullrings with bloodspurting from their backs andspraying from their noses andmouths. How can your company justify making money from thisdisgusting animal abuse?"Paddy Power's response at thetime was that it was "business"and commented: "We neithersupport nor denounce bullfight-ing, we simply respect thisSpanish custom and offer achoice to those customers whowish to bet on it."As part of our sustained cam-paign, ICABS made impassionedalerts and sent in our campaignpostcards. Aspecial thanks toMaria Lopes of the InternationalMovement Against Bullfights -www.iwab.org - for originallybringing this issue to our atten-tion in August 2007.While Paddy Power havestopped taking bets on bullringcruelty, we must not forget thatthe removal of ears and otherviolent abuse against bulls sadlycontinues in the bullrings.The campaign against bullfight-ing cruelty continues and weurge you to please continueresponding to our action alerts sothat together we can continueworking steadily towards the daywhen this sickening blood sportis a thing of the past.pleas to all of the company'sdirectors to intervene to stop thebets. They were shown photos ofmatadors holding up severedears while the victims squirmedon the ground. Also brought totheir attention were our cam-paign videos which featuredexplicit footage of suffering bulls.After nearly two years of cam-paigning, ICABS welcomesPaddy Power's decision to finallydispense with their bullring bets.We thank every individual andgroup from Ireland and abroadwho responded to our action

AFTER ALMOSTtwo years of campaigning byICABS, Paddy Power has announced that it hasstopped taking bets on the number of ears cut frombulls following torture sessions in Spanish bullrings.

Paddy Power ceasescruel bullfight bets

MAJOR VICTORY FOR ICABS ANTI-BULLFIGHTING CAMPAIGN

Betting on bullfightingbarbarity has been finallyended by Paddy Power

Ask mayor to keepbullfighting out ofthis beauty spot

PORTUGAL’SANIMALgroupis calling for internationalsupport for its campaignagainst bullfighting in thecity of Espinho.Two bullfights are sched-uled to take place in thebeautiful seaside resort thisJuly but with enough protestletters to the local authori-ties, it may be possible tostop these and keep animalcruelty out of Espinho.Please send the sample let-ter opposite to Mayor Motaand urge him to show com-passion and save the bullsfrom this horror.

TO: Mr. Jose Barbosa MotaPresidente da Camara Municipal de Espinho(President of the Municipality of Espinho)Camara Municipal de EspinhoPraca Dr. Jose Salvador, Apartado 7004501-901 Espinho, PortugalEmail: expediente@cm-espinho.pt (with a copy toturismo@cm-espinho.pt; dac.cultura@cm-espinho.pt;albernaz@ps.parlamento.pt; campanhas@animal.org.pt )

Dear Mayor Jose Barbosa Mota

I am writing to appeal to you to prohibit bullfighting in yourbeautiful seaside city. I understand that two bullfights arescheduled for July and I urge you to act to protect Espinho'simage and prevent such animal cruelty events from takingplace there.I hope that, as mayor of Espinho, you can follow Viana doCastelo, Braga, Cascais and Sintra in their widely welcomedannouncements that they will no longer authorise local bull-fights. Perhaps also, Espinho could go one step further anddeclare itself Portugal's second anti-bullfighting city.Thank you. I look forward to your positive response.Yours sincerely,[ Your name and location ]

Aheartless mob hits and jumps on an injured bull - just someof the appalling cruelty filmed in Yucatan, Mexico.

ACTION PROMISED TO STOPCRUELTY IN YUCATAN STATE

ICABS HASwelcomed anassurance from theAmbassador of Mexico inIreland that action will be takenagainst horrific cruelty to ani-mals in the state of Yucatan.

Video footage of bulls eviscerat-ing horses in an arena and a mobof locals kicking and jumping ondying animals was brought to theAmbassador's attention.Replying to our concerns,Ambassador Cecilia Jaberacknowledged our concerns"regarding the unfortunate eventsof animal cruelty posted onYoutube"."We have been in contact withthe relevant authorities in theState of Yucatan to whom weexpressed your concerns," theAmbassador stated. "This wasbrought to the attention of theMinistry of Tourism in the Stateand this Embassy has beeninformed that pertinent measureswill be taken. The internationalaffairs office of the State ofYucatan will follow up promptly onthis matter."She outlined that the crueltyfilmed in Yucatan at the toro sacatripas event "is not a commonpractice in Mexico and does notoccur on a regular basis".ICABS is grateful toAmbassador Jaber for her posi-tive response. We are verypleased to learn that the cruelty inYucatan is being addressed.We will now be conveying ourconcerns about the practice ofMexican bullfighting to theEmbassy. Mexico is one of justnine countries around the worldthat continues to allow bullfight-ing.The contact details are: Mr.Antonio d'Orey Capucho,Presidente da CamaraMunicipal de Cascais, CamaraMunicipal de Cascais, Praca 5de Outubro, 2754-501 Cascais,Portugal. Email: gab.municipe@cm-cascais.pt

ICABS JOINSPortugal’s ANI-MALgroup in praising thepresident of the municipalityof Cascais who recentlydeclared that a new bullringwould not be built in the area.

Mr Antonio d'Orey Capuchostated: "I do not intend to build anew bullring and I also do notintend to authorise spectacleswith animals in mobile struc-tures [such as mobile bullrings]."Please thank the president formaking this extremely importantdecision, which will save manyanimals.Also encourage him to go onestep further and declare Cascaisas Portugal's second anti-bull-fighting city [after Viana doCastelo].

Cascais praised foranti-bullfight move

Antonio d'Orey Capucho