Mess with the bull and you know what happens!

[Bob]

The simple truth is that adding antibiotics to animals feed encourages the development of resistant strains of bacteria, and that treating food animals with growth hormones encourages the development (or worsening) of cancer in the humans that consume them.

Unfortunately, our source of grain fed beef on Cape Ann just closed (Apparently, the owners of the store had a falling out and the store closed - the beef had come from a small farm in Maine every Thursday, and it had a taste like that which our grandparents must have experienced, savory and rich.). We still have a good source here in Connecticut, but transporting it is not a realistic possibility. Conventionally frozen meat develops large ice crystals that rupture cells and cause fluid to leak - tougher and less tasty meat. Frozen chorizos, on the other hand, have already been partially dehydrated by salt, and are not adversely affected by freezing.

We also avoid farmed salmon and opt for wild caught, even though it is much more expensive. Better taste and safer for one and all.

And as Terechu pointed out, the issue of quality of life for the animals is of no small importance. I too would rather be the bull raised under natural conditions than the industrialized product of what now passes for ranching. I have no trouble with the idea of slaughtering and eating animals, but I have no tolerance for cruelty or mistreatment of them.

[almoranhevia]

Hello,

I know this discussion is a bit old but I'd like to add my point of view:

1: It's not a big business at all, it's surviving thanks to subsidies as most Asturians (and Spaniards) don't support at all this cruel event. It's ironic to see how PSOE, PP and IU agree in giving public money to something that it's not a first necessity (meanwhile healthcare and education service standards are decreasing everyday......).

2: "Güe" de lidia has been created genetically by man kind, not by nature. And if corridas were abolished the bull would survive if men would want to, with this reasoning all wild animals that are not killed in entertainment? events would perish also..........

3: Bulls are tortured physically (before and during the corrida) and psychologically (before the corrida).........Check PETA web site

4: Yes, I think Circus, zoos and other similar ones should be forbidden too. But killing an animal as entertainment is beyond words......

5: Xose, I agree with you, however, in your comments about double standards but real animal defenders condemn any kind of suffering. After watching Earthlings I'm considering becoming fully vegan although I want to believe here in Asturias animals are treated differently but at the end.....

http://www.earthlings.com/earthlings/video-full.php

And last but not least as an Asturian I don't like at all bullfighting cause I'm against animal cruelty and cause it's not part of our Atlantic culture (I don't support either Isabel Pantoja in La Laboral.......) but even if it was part of our culture I'd condemn it. We're supposed to be "rational" animals.....

[Villamil]

Personally I don't like. It's an extremely cruel and unpleasant art/sport/whatever. Its modern fandom is small and dwindling (and it never was too large in Asturies), even in traditional bullfighting territories.

For instance in Oviedo the bullring was closed down three years ago due to structural problems. It's damaged, almost about to collapse, but nobody really cares. It's too expensive to maintain it properly given the benefits derived from its use as a bullring. The City Hall (governed by the PP) said it wanted to transform it into something useful for the community.

I think in Asturies sooner or later it will disappear completely for lack of public interest.

Greetings!

[Art]

I hadn't realized that the bull ring in Oviedo had closed, Villamil. You're probably right that it's a sign of Asturians' indifference.

For years I've preferred a plant-based diet. Then a couple of years ago I switched over to a primarily vegan diet for the health benefits. I like the food and don't miss meat at all, although I do miss cheese a bit. When I go to a restaurant in the US, I press them on what vegan options they offer. When I travel, for example in Spain, I find it's hard to maintain that diet, so I follow the old adage, "When in Rome, do as the Romans do."

Nonetheless, the longer I go without eating meat, the more I tend to question the ethics, or at least aesthetics, of eating meat. Sometimes when I think of the formerly alive animal, now just a body without its skin, I am revolted by the idea. I hadn't expected that reaction, but I suppose it's a natural consequence.

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No me había dado cuenta de que la plaza de toros de Oviedo se había cerrado, Villamil. Probablemente tienes razón que es un signo de la indiferencia de los asturianos.

Durante años he preferido una dieta basada en los vegetales. Más recientemente, hace un par de años, me cambié a una dieta principalmente vegana (¿vegetariana estricta?, en inglés "vegan") por los beneficios de salud. Me gusta la comida y no echo en falta de la carne en absoluto, aunque, sí, echo de menos un poquito el queso. Cuando voy a un restaurante en los EE.UU., los presiono, pidiendo sobre las opciones veganas que ofrecen. Cuando viajo, por ejemplo en España, me resulta difícil de mantener esta dieta, así que sigo el viejo dicho: "Cuando en Roma, haz lo que vieres."

Sin embargo, cuanto más tiempo me voy sin comer carne, cuanto más tiendo a cuestionar la ética, o por lo menos la estética, de comer la carne. Y algunas veces, pensar del animal anteriormente vivo, ahora sólo el cuerpo sin piel, me da un asco esta idea. No esperaba esa reacción, pero supongo que es una consecuencia natural.