PETA Letter Prompts Company's Compassionate Decision
For Immediate Release:
April 18, 2011
Contact:
Kristin Richards 202-483-7382
Tampa — Following a letter from PETA to the University of South Florida Federal Credit Union, Richard Skaggs, the company's president and CEO, has informed PETA that the credit union's future "Best Bull" contests will drop references to the cruel Running of the Bulls in Pamplona, Spain, and that it will not offer the promotion again in the future. In its letter, PETA explained that the bulls used in Pamplona suffer as a result of the run and that every one of them is later tormented and killed in the bullring. Wrote Skaggs, "I must confess we would not have structured the promotion in the current form had we considered the information you provided. We were simply unaware of the cruelty involved." He added, "We fully understand your position against any form of cruelty to animals, and we truly share the sentiment." PETA has asked Skaggs to encourage the contest winner to accept the cash option in lieu of the trip to Pamplona. PETA learned of the promotion after several USF students and alumni registered complaints.
"Tormenting and butchering animals for entertainment is something straight out of the Dark Ages, so we're happy that the USF credit union will no longer support this cruelty," says PETA President Ingrid E. Newkirk. "No one should promote a spectacle that is so abusive that it's outlawed in the United States."
In the Running of the Bulls, electric prods are often used to force terrified bulls to run through the cobblestone streets of Pamplona. As a result, the animals often lose their footing and break their legs. This cruel race ends at the bullring, where the bulls are later slowly tortured to death by being repeatedly stabbed in the neck and back before the matador enters the ring and attempts to kill the bleeding, weakened animal with a sword.
Opposition to bullfights is mounting. Last year, Spain's Catalan Parliament—whose jurisdiction includes Barcelona, which is Spain's second-largest city—overwhelmingly voted to ban bullfighting. At least 42 other Spanish cities and towns have declared their opposition to bullfighting.
For more information, please visit PETA.org.
