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April 08, 2006
Getting Naked to Save Bulls
By Michael Martinez
Knight Ridder Newspapers
Not everyone comes to Pamplona to run with the bulls.
For the past four years, PETA, the advocacy group that supports the ethical treatment of animals, has staged its own event — the Running of the Nudes — a collective march intended to end the daily runs and bullfights that result in the killing of bulls.
Last year, two days before the start of the Festival of San Fermin, some 700 protesters — not all of them in a state of undress — marched along the same route as the famous run.
While the event mostly is observed by curiosity seekers, organizers say there’s a purpose to their nudity.
“Our point is to make it fun and festive and, most important, attention-getting,” said William Rivas-Rivas, who coordinates the event. “Nothing gets more attention than taking off your clothes.”
Rivas-Rivas insists that People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals’ campaign (www.runningofthenudes.com) is gaining support every year among people who want to stop the killing of bulls throughout Spain.
The first year, the group had just 25 marchers.
“The more people take a look at it, the more they’ll see there are ways to have fun without torturing animals,” Rivas-Rivas said. “The food is wonderful, and there are a lot of amazing things to see and do in Pamplona without having to go to a bullfight or attend the running of the bulls.”
But many Pamplona visitors think PETA’s pilgrimage is useless.
“They’re dealing with a ritual that’s a couple of hundred years old,” said Allen Josephs, who attends the festival frequently and is writing a book about bulls. “They don’t really understand what’s going on.”
Posted by jimmy at April 8, 2006 04:27 PM