Rt. Hon. Sir Alan Beith MP

Member of Parliament for Berwick Upon Tweed

Alan Beith

Fiona Hall MEP backs EU wide ban on bull fighting

2.05.47pm GMT Wed 14th Feb 2007

Northumberland MEP Fiona Hall has signed a Written Declaration in the European Parliament , calling for an EU wide ban on bull fighting.

The Liberal Democrat has received hundreds of letters raising concerns about the welfare of bulls involved in the 'sport'.

She said:

"Bullfighting may still be seen as entertainment by some people, but it is undeniably a source of animal suffering and runs completely contrary to the bold and ambitious steps laid out in the Commission's Animal Welfare Action Plan for 2006-2010. In the twenty-first century such a barbaric practice as bullfighting is no longer acceptable. Attitudes to bullfighting are changing even in Spain."

Ms Hall has called for changes to the Common Agriculture Policy (CAP) so that EU farm subsidies cannot be given to farmers who breed bulls to be used in bullfighting. A major review of the CAP is due next year.

Fiona commented:

"It is completely wrong that EU farm subsidies can be used to support this cruel 'sport'.

"Bull fighting is based on putting bulls under severe physical torture, resulting in over 40,000 bull deaths a year in Europe."

The League Against Cruel Sports is backing the European Parliament declaration. Bullfighting campaigner, Jordi Casamitjana said:

"Bullrings rely heavily on subsidies from local governments just to survive. Hundreds of bulls are slaughtered in Spain, France and Portugal on a regular basis. They die a slow agonising death. This archaic and brutal blood sport needs to end now".

And Ms Hall is encouraging fellow MEPs to sign the declaration too. She said:

"If the declaration receives majority support in the European Parliament, the European Commission is obliged to respond.

"Recent written declarations that have resulted in improvements in animal welfare include a European ban on the import of seal products and more recently on the import of cat and dog fur.

"I hope that bullfighting will also be consigned to history."

Bookmark this story at: del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg FacebookFacebook redditreddit StumbleUponStumbleUpon
Print this news story.
Previous news story: Make public transport easy, says Fiona Hall MEP (Wed 14th Feb 2007).
Next news story: Breathtakingly hypocritical of Government to block targets for renewables, says Fiona Hall MEP (Fri 16th Feb 2007).

Related News Stories:

Sat 27th Sep 2008:

Fri 26th Sep 2008:

Wed 24th Sep 2008:

Mon 28th Jul 2008:

Thu 24th Jul 2008:

Thu 3rd Jul 2008:

Fri 13th Jun 2008:

Wed 11th Jun 2008:

Wed 21st May 2008:

Tue 13th May 2008:

Tue 11th Mar 2008:

Wed 30th Jan 2008:

Wed 23rd Jan 2008:

Mon 21st Jan 2008:

Fri 18th Jan 2008:

Thu 10th Jan 2008:

Mon 7th Jan 2008:

Thu 22nd Nov 2007:

Wed 24th Oct 2007:

Tue 23rd Oct 2007:

Tue 9th Oct 2007:

Tue 25th Sep 2007:

Tue 18th Sep 2007:

Fri 16th Feb 2007:

Wed 14th Feb 2007:

Thu 18th Jan 2007:

Wed 15th Nov 2006:

Printed and hosted by Prater Raines Ltd, 82b Sandgate High Street, Folkestone CT20 3BX.
Published and promoted by Clare Mills for Rt Hon Alan Beith MP and BCLD, 54 Bondgate Within, Alnwick NE66 1JD
The views expressed are those of the party, not of the service provider.