Ricky Gervais Hits Out At Spanish Festival Where People Brutally Fight Wild Horses

WARNING: GRAPHIC VIDEO/PICTURES

This video shows men and women wrestling dozens of semi-feral horses in the Spanish town of Sabucedo before forcibly cutting their manes and tails.

This occurred during a festival which takes place every year - now comedian Ricky Gervais has spoken out to condemn those that take part, taking to Twitter to call the event 'absolute filth'.

Footage from the event - called the 'Rapa das Bestas,' or the 'Capture of the Beasts' - shows hundreds of onlookers cheering as the captured animals are forced to the ground by two or three people before having their manes and tails cut.

Wrestling the animals, which can weigh several hundred kilograms, is seen as a test of strength and will.

Many people consider it to be animal abuse, including a number of organisations such as People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA).

Responding to Gervais' tweet, one person said: "Just when ye think you've seen the worst sh*** on this planet, via SM [social media], here's the latest contenders for c***s of the week!"

Another added: "If only the horses knew to kick them square in the head, this would be a very different, much more entertaining video."

A third wrote: "I hate everything single human there... absolutely disgusting... makes my blood boil."

Ruptly

Ruptly

Some queried whether the festival presented an issue of acceptable culture in Spain, but this was shut down quickly. Defending Spanish residents, one person commented: "I find these 'traditions' horrible, but it amazes me that many people like to say Spaniards are evil when only a very small percentage of Spaniards take part in these stupid traditions."

Others tried to justify the event, one said: "Ok, I'll just try to explain this: it's not wrestling it's cutting the manes of wild horses, mending their wounds and removing lice and other parasites. After that they are freed again. It may seem Wild but horses are not hurt in any way, or at least that's not the aim."

Another person agreed: "They are not wrestling. These are wild horses and they are cutting their horsehair for the heat summer. The horses are freed after. F***ing ignorants."

PA

Over the weekend, the Running of the Bulls event was also held in Spain, in the northern city of Pamplona, where bulls were prodded and goaded to make them panic and run down cobbled streets.

According to PETA, people run alongside the animals, grabbing and twisting their tails and hitting them with sticks and rolled-up newspapers. The bulls are then stabbed to death in bullfighting arenas.

This year, 54 protesters set up a 'crime scene' cordoned off with yellow tape in the town, with supporters of PETA and Spanish animal protection group AnimaNaturalis representing each of the bulls who endured a bloody slaughter.

PA

The demonstration saw activists lie down inside the outlines of bulls on the hot ground in a square in Pamplona city centre.

Banderillas - the weapons used to stab bulls during bullfights - were sticking out of the protesters' backs, reminding onlookers that bulls are made of flesh, blood, and bones and experience fear and pain, just as humans do.

Topics: Animal Cruelty, News, PETA, Spain, Animals

Rebecca Shepherd

I'm Becky - a journalist at LADbible. I graduated with a First Class BA in Journalism before going on to cover criminal court cases, medical tribunals and breaking news for the national media - which inevitably and eventually became as glum as it sounds. Can often be found rocking a bag for life - which I made a 'thing' way before Rihanna. You can contact me at [email protected]

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