MEP anger over Britain funding barbaric Blood Festivals

Tuesday, September 21 2010

British taxpayers are subsidising Spain's sadistic 'blood fiestas' which cruelly kill thousands of bulls every year.

UKIP MEP Mike Nattrass, who has been a high-profile advocate of animal rights, says the EU subsidy for blood fiestas and bullfighting must come to an end and these barbaric so-called sports should be stopped.

The West Midlands MEP, who was the first MEP to ‘sign the bull’ against the EU bullfighting subsidy, says it is horrifying that EU member states, including Britain, are spending a total of £37 million a year to directly subsidise bullfighting, blood fiestas and other sports in Spain.

A story in yesterday’s Daily Mail (Monday, September 20) also reports on how EU cash is being used to renovate rundown bullrings which Mike Nattrass describes as ‘arenas of death’.

Animal welfare campaigners the Fight Against Animal Cruelty in Europe (FAACE) say thousands of Blood Fiestas take place in villages throughout Spain each year.

The majority of Blood Fiesta victims are cattle but chickens, pigs and even rabbits and squirrels are also used in Blood Fiestas.

Mr Nattrass said: “It is horrifying that our cash is being used to fund cruelty. Animals are essentially tormented before they are put to agonising and slow deaths.

“FAACE shows on its website pictures of these so-called blood fiestas and incidents where pigeons and squirrels in clay pots are being pelted with stones and where chickens have been hacked to death by blindfolded villagers.

“It is horrifying that our cash is going towards the support of such barbarism and for the renovation of bullrings which are arenas of death.

“It is appalling that some MEPs are campaigning for bullfighting and these blood fiestas to be officially recognised as part of Europe’s cultural heritage. I will continue to oppose these moves in the European Parliament.

“Why should our taxpayers’ money be used to subsidise animal cruelty? This is yet another reason why Britain should pull out of the European Union,” he added.