| Dear friends, They say the dog is disobedient, and that's why it deserved its fate. Every year, people in the village of Chalhuani in central Peru choose a local dog that is known for trouble-making and tie it onto the back of a bull. As the dog yelps in fear, they strap all four of its legs onto the bull so that it cannot run and can barely even move. Then, handlers release the bull into the fighting ring and it charges out – with the dog still on its back. In 2015, the Peruvian government passed the Animal Protection and Welfare Law, which outlaws the killing, torture or abandonment of pets or wild animals. Any person who disobeys this law can be sentenced to five years in prison. But the law makes an exception for bullfighting because it is considered part of Peru's cultural heritage. But tying a panicked dog onto the back of a bull and sending it into the fighting ring is not about culture. It's cruelty, pure and simple. Once the dogs are in the arena, they will be brutally stabbed, over and over, until they finally die along with the bull. | |
