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Paddy Power's grotesque bullfighting bets
23 August 2007 ICABS has described as grotesque and in the poorest of taste Paddy Power's acceptance of bullfighting bets. We were horrified to learn that the Irish company is currently inviting bets on the number of ears that will be cut from the heads of bulls after bullfights. On the Spanish section of paddpower.com (Paddy Power en Espanol - Toros), visitors are being given the opportunity to guess the total number of ears carved off the animals and given to matadors as gruesome trophies. In a fax to the company's CEO this week, ICABS asked for the bull betting to be urgently scrapped. "We find grotesque and in the poorest of taste the Paddy Power company's acceptance of such bets," we stated. "We can only assume that company management is unaware of the horrors of bullfighting and how bulls are cruelly tortured with spikes and spears. As people are casting bets on paddypower.com, the bulls are stumbling around the bullrings with blood spurting from their backs and spraying from their noses and mouths. Surely this is not the type of activity which Paddy Power wants to either be associated with or to make money from."
Referring to the cutting off of bulls' ears, we detailed how this is done after the bulls have been subjected to the agony of being stabbed with spiked spears. The animals are sometimes still alive when this gruesome ritual is performed. Responding to complaints, Paddy Power spokesperson, Gary Connolly commented: "We neither support nor denounce bullfighting, we simply respect this Spanish custom and offer a choice to those customers who wish to bet on it." ICABS has sent an explicit video clip (please see below) to the company's head office which leaves nothing to the imagination. A bull, still alive, is seen lying paralysed on the ground as a bullfighter uses a dagger to carve off one of its ears. "It's shocking viewing," we warned in our appeal to CEO Patrick Kennedy, "but we implore you to watch it and reconsider your company's foray into the violent and inhumane world of bullfighting."
ACTION ALERT Please urgently contact the CEO of Paddy Power and demand an end to its bullfighting bets. Ask as many of your friends as possible to respond to this action alert.
Patrick Kennedy
Email: info@paddypowerplc.com; ppower@paddypower.com
Sample Letter
Dear Mr Kennedy, I am writing to express my absolute disgust that the Paddy Power company is currently accepting bets on the number of ears that will be cut off the heads of bulls after bullfighting events in Spain. It is beyond belief that a company which values its image would want to associate with this cruel and indefensible animal cruelty. Bulls are subjected to the most horrendous abuse in Spanish bullrings - spiked spears and swords are plunged into their flesh and they finally collapse in agony with blood cascading from their backs and spraying from their mouths and nostrils. Bulls' ears, carved off as grisly trophies for the matadors, are sometimes removed when the animal is still alive. Video footage showing a live bull having its ear cut off can be seen at http://s147271628.onlinehome.us/bullfighting07.mov I ask you to please view this shocking clip and immediately end your bullfighting bets. Yours sincerely, Name/Location Campaign Video: Paddy Power Plc - Stop the bloody bullring bets
Video: A bull's ear being cut off
The video clip we sent to Paddy Power can be viewed by clicking on the link below.
Video: Ear being cut off bull
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