Gonz said:
I think I agree with you. From what I've read and seen about it, Bull Fighting is really quite cruel to the animal, since they stab and injure the bull severely before the matador really puts himself at "risk". However, it's also that country's custom and something they've done for a really long time, so my passing judgement on them should be taken with a grain of salt. Of course I also don't think sitting in a tree all day with all kinds of modern equipment and camo, hiding my scent, and waiting for an animal to wander by so I can shoot it is a sport either, but that line of thinking here in MN is likely to get
me shot!
[snapback]282933[/snapback]
Disagree somewhat on the first but agree completely on the second part.
The spectacle of bullfighting has existed in one form or another since ancient days(a contest of some sort is depicted in a wall painting unearthed at Knossos in Crete, dating from about 2000 BC). Today the bullfight is much the same as it has been since about 1726, when Francisco Romero of Ronda, Spain, introduced the estoque (the sword) and the muleta (the small, more easily wielded worsted cape used in the last part of the fight).
Six bulls, to be killed by three matadors, are usually required for one afternoon's corrida, and each encounter lasts about 15 minutes. When a bull first comes into the arena out of the toril, or bull pen gate, the matador greets it with a series of maneuvers. The amount of applause the matador receives is based on his proximity to the horns of the bull, his tranquility in the face of danger, and his grace in swinging the cape in front of an infuriated animal weighing more than 460 kg (1,000 lb).
Fighting bulls charge instantly at anything that moves because of their natural instinct and centuries of special breeding. Unlike domestic bulls, they do not have to be trained to charge, nor are they starved or tortured to make them savage. Those animals selected for the corrida are allowed to live a year longer than those assigned to the slaughterhouse.
The second part of the corrida consists of the work of the picadors, bearing lances and the banderilleros who advance to place sticks in the bull's shoulders in order to lower its head for the eventual kill. After the placing of the banderillas, a trumpet sounds signaling the last phase of the fight. Although the bull has been weakened and slowed, it has also become warier during the course of the fight, sensing that behind the cape is its true enemy; most gorings occur at this time. As with every maneuver in the ring, the emphasis is on the ability to increase but control the personal danger, maintaining the balance between suicide and mere survival.
After several minutes the matador tries to stimulate the excitement of the crowd by working closer and closer to the horns, the fighter takes the sword and lines up the bull for the kill. The blade must go between the shoulder blades; because the space between them is very small.
The kill, properly done
is probably the most dignified way for an animal to die, also called "the moment of Truth". 
