Again, it seems that the cruelty doesn't ever end. It doesn't stop and what's worse is... I probably don't even know all of the crimes made against animals. There are probably millions of unknown cruel practices that I'm not even aware of. However, in this blog series, I can at least bring attention to the seventy or so acts of cruelty that I know and am educated in.
Hopefully, if it doesn't drag on too long, I'll be able to get through the next two cruelty crimes I listed in my tentative list of Human Crimes Against Animals (the sixth blog). In this blog, I'll hopefully get through Bull Fighting and Caged Birds.
Bull Fighting particularly struck my heart. I absolutely hate bull fighting. It's horribly cruel and incredibly painful for me to even think about.
If any of the material, in photos or videos, is too graphic for you, I apologize. I know how depressing this can be for first time learners... seeing as I, at one time, didn't know anything about 3/4 of any of these things.
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6. Bull Fighting - although this is a globally spread act of cruelty, it is especially brutal in Spain, Mexico, and South America. The bulls used in bull fights are starved, deprived of water, intentionally stressed out to the point of exhaustion, beaten for no reason, and drugged. These drugged and confused animals are forced into a ring while they are both lethargic, sickly, and dehydrated (basically a completely weakened state). In the very ring where the so called "entertainment" is supposed to take place, the bulls endure endless abuse, humiliation, torture, and death. 
These animals are tortured in a variety of ways that seriously make me question humanity as a whole. Some bulls' horns are set on fire, causing them to be even more petrified. These bulls often receive extensive burns due to this practice. Fire crackers are also attached to the bulls. These fire crackers and their strange noises frighten the animals and burn them as well. Imagine having a fire cracker jammed into your body or attached to your horns, so that the only noise you hear is a loud cracking directly by your ear. Doesn't sound like fun, does it? As if the burns and scare tactics weren't enough, darts are thrown at the animals, painfully breaking skin and causing even more distress. 
Every year, more than 40,000 bulls are slaughtered in bullrings accross the globe. As a tourist attraction, bull fighting is generally not appreciated as entertainment. People who witness a bull fight for the first time, never wish to see another one ever again. People are repulsed, disgusted, and saddened by this awful cruelty.When you read the word, "Bullfighting", what do you think? Do you think of a man fighting a bull in a fair fight, because if you do, you're an effin' idiot. These bulls are incredibly weakened by their poor condition and do not offer much of a fight. A matador (meaning 'killer' in Spanish) is equiped with a sword while the bull is equiped with nothing other than it's own confusion and debilitated state.
Bulls never have a chance to defend themselves. Nor do they have a chance of survival. These bulls are intentionally weakened over and over using various means. Sandbags are dropped onto the bulls' backs to weaken them. Sedative drugs are also used to weaken them. As well as this, many are injected with anti-inflammatory drugs to mask injuries and convince the animal that they aren't actually hurt. Another common practice is called 'shaving'. This is when people shave a bulls horns down a couple inches. Like a cats whiskers, horns help the animal navigate. This shaving method impairs the bulls coordination essentially creating 'drunken' bulls.
Not only is this cruel to the bulls, but Picadors ride in on blind-folded horses. Being blind-folded is a frightening experience for these horses. These Picadors drive lances into the bull's back and neck muscles, impairing the bull's ability to lift his head (again affecting coordination). They twist and gouge the lances to cause significant blood loss to again weaken the bull. After this, Banderilleros come in and distract the bull while plunging banderillas (bright sticks with harpoon points on the ends) into the bulls back. After this significant torture and blood loss, the Banderilleros will run the bull in circles until it becomes disoriented enough to stop chasing. This is when the Matador appears and forces the bull to charge him. During this, the Matador tries to kill the bull with his sword. These Matadors strut aroung the arena as if they had actually done something courageous. Courageous? Yes, killing a defenseless and destroyed animal is a complete act of bravery. Fuck that.
It gets worse too, because if the Matador misses and only mutilates the animal further, an executioner is called in to stab the bull to death. The dagger is meant to cut the animal's spinal cord. However, even this can get messed up and then the animal, while completely conscious, is paralyzed by chains attached to its horns and then dragged out of the arena. This will cause the lances to dig deeper and wounds to worsen. Bulls cannot survive. Entertainment? No, completely brutal torture and eventual slaughter of innocent animals.
7. Caged Birds - again, a global problem that seems almost innocent. Right? They're just pets, how can this be cruel? It's pretty simple actually.The age-old practice of keeping birds in cages simply for amusement or decoration is both wrong and incredibly outdated. Birds, who are incredibly intelligent and beautiful creatures, deserve to do what they were born to do. They were born to fly- born to be free to spread their wings and soar high over us, the ignorant humans who walk the face of this planet. These birds don't deserve to waste away in a cage where they serve no other purpose but the amusement of humans.
Think, for one minute, all of the times you've wished you could fly... think about that. Now, imagine you had that ability- imagine that you had wings to carry you across the skyline. What would you do if you were condemned to a cage where you cannot fly, let alone spread your wings? You'd go nuts and that is exactly what happens to these birds. And people wonder why caged birds are often mean or snappy. Seriously, if people thought for a second and just put themselves in the animals place, we'd have free and beautiful birds finding peace in their natural environments.
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Thanks for reading,
Ashley
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