A bull leaping into the stands at the main bullfighting arena in Mexico City was for many fans an exciting moment, worthy of celebration. But for activists opposed to cruelty to animals, it was more evidence of the "savagery" of the blood sport.

"Pajarito" (Little Bird), a bull weighing over half a ton, flew into the ringside seats, true to its name, on Jan. 29. Seven spectators were injured, none of them seriously, and the bull remained stranded on the spot where it landed.

The bull was killed by one of the matadors, saving it 20 minutes – the average time that a bullfight lasts, during which the animals are chased around and stabbed repeatedly before they are killed by a knife to the back of the neck.

"The Pajarito incident will revive interest in bullfighting, whose audiences have been falling off in recent years," Eduardo Anaya, a 29-year-old Mexican who said he had been a bull-fighting fan as long as he can remember, told IPS.

But Lydia Barraza, of the Independent Animal Aid Association (Asociación Autónoma de Ayuda a los Animales), sees the incident as just another demonstration of the cruelty of bullfights. "The bull jumped because of the stress and mistreatment it suffered before entering the ring," she said.

While bullfighting enthusiasts defend the sport as a colourful artistic spectacle that preserves an ageold tradition, detractors argue that it amounts to nothing more than institutionalised cruelty to animals.

The Independent Animal Aid Association has lobbied legislators, so far unsuccessfully, for a ban on bullfights. But fans, including politicians, wealthy business people and even Roman Catholic bishops, turn a deaf ear to the proposal.

Only a few cities in the state of Veracruz, on the Gulf of Mexico, have forbidden bullfighting.

In the capital, the Plaza México bullring, inaugurated 60 years ago last Sunday, has hosted the world's most famous bullfighters, and is the focus of the activists’ protests.

Around 100 people turn up regularly to protest the fights. Although "we are nearly always attacked verbally and even physically, we do not feel discouraged because we see that more and more people are becoming aware now, which is why there is less interest in bullfights," said Barraza.

"I respect people who are against bullfights, but those of us who have grown up with it see it as a show. It's true that it's bloody, but it's something that belongs to us in a cultural and historical sense, and the brave animal that dies was born and raised for this," said Anaya.

Bullfighting was brought to the Americas from Spain, and the first bullfight in what today is Mexico took place in 1526.

"The argument about tradition is a fallacy, because it's also an ancient tradition to kill people in public, or to have slaves. Like those customs, bullfighting must be stopped because it's savage, and degrading to animals," Barraza maintained.

Fighting bulls are raised specifically for the bullring. Owners want their animals to fight bravely, so that the matadors will win the "trophies" - the bull’s ears and tail.

When a bullfighter has shown his skills against a bull that is exceptionally "noble and brave," the animal may be spared death, but this is a rare occurrence.

Before entering the ring, the animal is held in a small pen in stressful conditions. Activists claim that the bulls suffer blows to the testicles and the area around the kidneys, and that diarrhoea is induced, in order to ensure that they are bad-tempered and aggressive when they enter the ring.

Once in the arena in front of a large, noisy audience shouting "Ole!" and applauding, the bull is teased with a red cape, chased around until he is exhausted, and stabbed over and over with different sharp instruments.

After the animal has lost copious amounts of blood and its strength is failing, the bullfighter finally drives in his sword. But usually this does not succeed in killing the bull, so someone else finishes it off with a knife to the neck.

"Bullfighting is terrible savagery and should be consigned to history," Barraza said emphatically. (END/2006)