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Nabarralde | Nabarra Papers
  
Festivities
and Animal Cruelty
Blanca
Garza.
The National Association for the Protection and Well Being of
Animals (ANPBA) said it will sue the mayor of Bergara, Basque
Nationalist Party Bitoriano Gallastegi, for having allowed the
killing of a calf during a traditional festival in the neighborhood
of Osintxu. Unfortunately, during some festivities in the Basque
Country (and Spain and France) animals are sacrificed in the
name of religion.
In Osintxu, killing a calf in public is a tradition that has
its origins more than 700 years ago. This year the killing took
place despite warnings by ANPBA that such a spectacle violates
the Animals Protection Law (6/1993) of the regional parliament
of Baskongadak, whose Article 4 prohibits killing animals in
public.
ANPBA denounced Gallastegi before the Department of Agriculture
and asked that the mayor be fined 2.5 million pesetas as imposed
by the Department for violating the law. ANPBA also asked that
the executioner, Rafael Zabaleta, and his "assistant" Rosario
Vaqueriza, be fined.
The mayor, however, denies he allowed the killing. According
to Gallastegi, he banned the ritual after receiving a fax from
ANPBA warning about the law. He claims to have sent several
police officers to "find out whether the law was observed" but
the neighbors went ahead with the killing. The police officers
did not try to stop the killing and no arrests were reported.
Animal
Cruelty
In the Basque Country, as well as in Spain and France, the abuse
of animals is linked to the celebration of patron saints. For
many tourists, the colorful costumes, religious icons and traditional
music and dancing of the festivity are a reminder of values
which in many parts of the world have been forgotten. But unfortunately,
many of these festivities, like so many other saints' day festivals
in Europe, have more sinister attractions.
Different types of animals are victims of cruelty at festivities.
Goats are thrown from church towers, chickens are beheaded by
blind-folded children, rabbits are stoned to death, but it is
the bull that bears the brunt of the cruelty.
Besides the traditional corridas in Bilbo, Iruña, Baiona
and many other towns in the Basque Country, where the bull is
tortured and finally killed, these animals can be subjected
to all types of cruelty.
In the Basque Country, bulls are raised for corridas, and the
square is the place where the bulls are "tested" for their quality.
The Lasturko zezena is a breed of bull well known specially
in Gipuzkoa. During annual festivities, the town or village
square, and adjacent streets, is closed and a bull is taken
from the stable to the square for "playing"
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Young bull meets instigators. |
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-- an euphemism for psychological and physical torture. Anybody
from the audience is allowed to jump into the square and provoke
and escape from the bull. The bull is trapped in the square among
strangers who from all sides instigate, confuse, and harassed
the animal. This entertainment is known as the "bull enclosed"
and in some cases people armed with wooden poles with protruding
nails stab and bludgeon the animal.
A horrifying event has the horns of a bull set on fire and the
animal chased through the town and finally killed.
But animal cruelty is not limited to religious festivities.
In Spain's Basque region known as Baskongadak, the regional
police (Ertzantza) use goats for training, a practice denounced
by animal rights groups.
This summer several vaquillas (young bulls) which had escaped
a "playing with the bull" were massacred by police who shot
more than twenty bullets at each of them.
In the cosmopolitan and sophisticated city of Barcelona, bulls
are used in the production of the opera "Carmen" and brought
to their death as part of the show.
The
Basque Country and Humane Education
"Animals
and persons are the same," those of us raised in a baserria
have heard many times. Our farmhouse is adjusted to the residence
and nurturance of people and animals alike. In our homes, people
and animals are brought together for the performance of the
vital functions of breeding, nurturing, and protection. Animals
are part of our lives and we have a responsibility towards them.
The Basque Country needs guidelines to create and implement
its own humane education programs: sound educational methods,
up-to-date information about animals and clear philosophical
options and goals. This material has to be made available to
teachers, librarians and others to promote group interaction,
critical thinking and decision making, and to reach children
and adults not only through the materials, but through outreach
events, publications and workshops for both professionals and
members of the general public.
Humane education is about learning to care. It teaches children
and adults kindness, respect and the value of all of the living
beings who share the Earth. For young children, humane education
may encompass debunking the many myths that surround animals
(i.e., cats have many lives), bite prevention classes and teaching
that animals need food, water and shelter, just like people.
For older children and adults, it can not only foster an appreciation
of less cuddly creatures such as spiders, bats and worms, but
offer insights into the complex relationships between people,
animals and the environment.
Humane education has a philosophical component. It strives to
foster a sense of responsibility and makes the world a better,
more humane place.
September 5, 1999
Blanca
Garza is a writer and political activist. She lives in Baiona
with her husband and children.
Pictures courtesy of: 1,4. Diario de Navarra. 2,3. Society for
Animal Rights.
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