runnin with the bulls, i mean in the buff...

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Raw hide run protests Pamplona's bull fiesta

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SPAIN: July 9, 2002

 

 

PAMPLONA, Spain - A dozen animal rights activists ran naked through the streets

of the Spanish city of Pamplona last week to protest against the annual running

of the bulls fiesta.

 

 

Pamplona's nine-day San Fermin festival, depicted in Ernest Hemingway's 1927

novel " Fiesta " , is famous for its morning bull runs - where scores of young men

risk their lives in a three-minute adrenaline-fuelled dash from six fighting

bulls.

Their bodies painted with slogans like " let bulls die in peace " , the young

activists from across Europe and the United States stopped traffic and drew

curious crowds with a call to ban bullfighting from the festival.

 

" We are trying to draw attention to the suffering of the bulls during this run.

They have no choice but to be here, and we do, " said Kristie Phelps, wearing a

pair of plastic horns.

 

" While I certainly feel uncomfortable doing this, it is nothing compared with

the suffering felt by the bulls, when they run through the slippery streets

before being slaughtered in a ring, " said Phelps, a tall blonde who has also

shed her clothes to campaign for vegetarianism and circus animals' rights.

 

Although the protest followed the same course as the bull runs through the

cobbled streets of old Pamplona, half of the participants in the " Human Race " ,

as organisers dubbed it, were women - unlike the all male San Fermin stampede.

 

The protesters say they will make the naked romp an annual event to create an

alternative to Pamplona's historic and hugely popular bull run, which starts on

the weekend.

 

Bullfighting arouses strong passions in Spain - both among aficionados, many of

whom live in the southern region of Andalusia, and campaigners who claim the

ritual is barbaric.

 

Many residents and tourists applauded the bravery of the protest, but not all

Spaniards were sympathetic.

 

" You should let the bulls loose, then you'd see them run, " said Jose Ignacio, a

58-year-old retiree.

 

" Bullfighting is just another form of entertainment. Footballers also risk

injury when they play. I don't know why they are making such a fuss. "

 

 

 

Story by Daniel Flynn

 

 

REUTERS NEWS SERVICE