Dear      : I a writing to request that you immediately stop the promotion of bullfighting. Every year, approximately 35,000 bulls are tormented and killed in bullfights in Spain. Although many bullfight attendees are American tourists, 90 percent of these tourists never return to another fight after witnessing the relentless cruelty that takes place in the ring. Spanish bulls and their many counterparts in Mexico and other countries are victims of a savage display disguised as "art" or "entertainment" that noted Mexican author Eduardo del Rio described as "a stumbling block for the humanization of man." The bull never has a chance to defend himself, much less survive. Many prominent former bullfighters report that the bull is intentionally debilitated with tranquilizers and laxatives, beatings to the kidneys, petroleum jelly rubbed into their eyes to blur vision, heavy weights hung around their neck for weeks before the fight, and confinement in darkness for hours before being released into the bright arena. A well-known bullfight veterinarian, Dr. Manuel Sanz, reports that in 1987 more than 90 percent of bulls killed in fights had their horns "shaved" before the fight. Horn shaving involves sawing off several inches of the horns so the bull misses his thrusts at the altered angle. The matador, two picadors on horses, and three men on foot stab the bull repeatedly when he enters the ring. After the bull has been completely weakened by fear, blood loss, and exhaustion, the matador attempts to make a clean kill with a sword to the heart. Unfortunately for the suffering bull, the matador rarely succeeds and must make several thrusts, often missing the bull's heart and piercing his lungs instead. Often a dagger must be used to cut the spinal cord and spare the audience the sight of a defenseless animal in the throes of death. The bull may still be fully conscious but paralyzed when his ears and tail are cut off as the final show of "victory." The bulls aren't the only victims of the intense cruelty of the arena. According to Lyn Sherwood, publisher of an English-language bullfight magazine, horses used in bullfights are "shot behind the ear with dope. The horses are drugged and blindfolded and they're knocked down a lot." These horses, who are often gored, usually have wet newspaper stuffed in their ears to impair their hearing, and their vocal cords are usually cut so their cries do not distract the crowd. Fight promoters claim the horses are "saved" from glue factories; this means these animals are often old, tired plow horses who end up being knocked down by bulls weighing up to a half a ton. Bullfighting is a senseless, degrading spectacle that has no place in a civilized society. Please do not support animal cruelty. Thank you for your time and consideration. Sincerely, [Name] [Address] Letter composed by Ingrid E Newkirk - President of PETA May 12, 2005 The Honorable Donald H. Rumsfeld Secretary of Defense 1000 Defense Pentagon Washington, DC 20301-1000 1 page via fax: 703-695-1219 Dear Secretary Rumsfeld: You have said that you weren't aware of the abuses at Abu Ghraib, but I don't want you to be caught in the same position over the torture of another group of individuals who, while different from the average American citizen in many ways, still bleed, feel pain, and experience fear just as we do. Because people can change over the years, I would like to get the story straight from you, rather than relying on old newspaper accounts of what you said about this shameful matter when you were NATO ambassador. Will you please tell me whether your views on bullfighting have changed since you personally "ran with the bulls" in Pamplona? I believe that you can safely say that like most, you had no idea until now that before reaching the streets in Pamplona, the bulls are debilitated with laxatives, blinded with Vaseline smeared into their eyes, and agitated with firecrackers and whips to make them stampede. You probably didn't realize that the bulls who crash onto the cobblestones, bruising and breaking their horns and limbs, are the very same animals tortured to death in the arena that night, having their ears cut off by a matador (literally "killer") while they are still conscious. I'm happy to note that bullfighting is a dying business. It has now been banned in several Spanish cities. I hope that you will add your voice to this sign of progress and awareness that all torture is wrong. I invite you to tip the scales back a bit by coming to Spain to participate in the Running of the Nudes—also called the Human Race—an alternative to the cruel spectacle that occurs three days later. We all live and learn, and we often become more caring as we age. PETA would be pleased to welcome you to run with representatives from Spain and from around the world, wearing as much or as little as you like. I look forward to hearing back from you. Very truly yours, [Your Name] [Your Address - optional]