TERRIFIED BULL TIED UP AND SET ON FIRE AS PART OF A TRADITIONAL SPANISH FESTIVAL

CREDIT: YouTube: Armageddon Ready (RT Documentary)

DRAMATIC footage filmed in the Spanish town of Medinaceli on Sunday shows a distressed bull being tied down and having its horns set on fire in a traditional Spanish festival dating back at least 400 years.

The petrified animal can be seen being bound to a post as some 20 men restrain it and set fire to imitation horns fastened to its head.

Footage of the event was taken during the annual Toro Jubilo festival, which takes place on the second weekend of every November in Medinaceli in Soira.

The annual spectacle, which is listed by the Spanish government as a traditional event to be preserved, took place last Saturday and attracted around 1,500 spectators.

Filming and photography is strictly banned, but AnimaNaturalis activists managed to record the event with the intent of uncovering the torturous level of suffering inflicted on the bull during the spectacle.

Footage reveals how two huge balls of straw were fastened to the bull’s head using ropes, wires and rough wood, then ignited. The bull is then released, leaving it to charge around the arena in obvious distress. Fireworks are then set off causing further panic to the animal.

The festival dates back to the 16th century. Though the bull is covered with mud to avoid burns and an inflammable structure is placed on its head, the animal suffers extreme distress and sometimes the bulls used in this festival subsequently die after the event from the brutal blows received or heart attacks.