Andrew, I hear you.
Nevertheless, with all due respect to our Iberian colleagues, bullfighting is an exact equivalent of cock fighting and dog fighting only a less fair one: at least the former is a "dog against a dog". Pitting a man against a bull ? The fairness of it can be measured in the proportion of dead bulls vs. dead matadors: the creature's chance would be better if it had metastatic cancer. I've absolutely refused to accept an invitation to a bull fight when I was in Spain. Call it squeamishness, but I just cannot stand the idea.
In Portugal, interestingly, they have bullfights without killing the bull. That is truly sporting: only the willing human takes a chance, but the bull is safe.
I am not a vocal opponent of any animal fights, fox hunting or just hunting; having done my share of hunting in the distant past, I have decided that if I wanted a steak, I could get it in the supermarket instead of being a volunteer butcher. And if I am not going to eat the creature, I have no business killing it.
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