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Update: Bullfighter reportedly stable, suffering from crippling case of a-gore-aphobia

May 22, 2010, 10:30 AM EDT

10 Comments

bullgore02.jpg

Good news for those of you who fully support the senseless and barbaric act of bullfighting: Julio Aparicio, the matador who will now be better known as “the guy with a horn jutting out of his mouth” is reportedly in stable condition after undergoing two surgeries.

Fortunately there were no injuries to his brain and a first operation which lasted for an hour and was held in the bullring’s own clinic no doubt saved his life. He has since had another procedure in the Doce de Octubre Hospital in the capital.

A quick glance at the comments on my colleague Rick Chandler’s post addressing the topic last night showed that some high-minded folks took Rick to task for his perceived insensitivity regarding the welfare of Aparicio. If I may, allow me to offer some needed perspective with the following account of the events from the New York Post:

A day after dashing Spanish bullfighter Julio Aparicio showed his dominance by cutting the ears off two vanquished bulls, one of their bovine brothers got revenge yesterday by gruesomely impaling the matador through his throat and out his mouth.

I have often said there are few things more dashing than cutting off the ears of defenseless animals to establish your dominance over the beasts. Elegant, really.
***
Julio Aparicio suffers horrific goring in Las Ventas [Typically Spanish]
Gored matador gets Spain and suffering [New York Post]
Well, this is rather gruesome [Out of Bounds]

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  1. Um - May 22, 2010 at 12:29 PM

    “defenseless animals”
    Notice the HORN jutting out the man’s mouth. I’d say that bull threw down a hell of a defense, wouldn’t you agree?
    Perhaps we should all lil furries the right to vote too, eh?
    LOL

  2. Dee Mirich and the Supremes - May 22, 2010 at 12:53 PM

    I think he meant, defenseless at the time the ears are removed. Also I am all for animals voting. Then Palin would be back doing local TV news.

  3. Raul - May 22, 2010 at 2:09 PM

    They cut the ears after the bull has died. Anyway, I am against bullfighting.

  4. Turners Memo - May 22, 2010 at 2:40 PM

    I couldn’t be happier! I’m glad he didn’t die because now he has to live with that mess of a throat and tongue. I hope he has side effects such as brain damage, inability to eat and drink, etc., for the rest of his stupid miserable life. My only disappointment was that the bulls horn couldn’t have somehow pierced his spine leaving him a paralyzed mass of worthless organs for the rest of life. I love the picture of the bulls horn protruding from the mouth of the “dashing” Julio Aparicio. I wonder what it feels like to have an animal you’ve teased and whose brethren you’ve tortured create another bodily orifice for you. Let’s see you enjoy your next plate of Tortilla de Patatas. It would also be nice to see you leaking from the neck the next time you drink.

  5. Lori - May 22, 2010 at 4:20 PM

    Am I missing something? The author apparently believes that an EAR is a HORN. The author should learn the difference prior to writing, as this makes his issue a joke, rather than building any credibility;it renders his ‘argument’ useless.
    In addition to the difference between an EAR and a HORN… the author may want to learn about how animals, such as bulls, defend themselves.
    4-legged animals, such as bulls with horns, can kill other animals (both the 4-legged & the 2-legged variety) with those horns… NOT with their ears. Therefore, HORNS ARE PART OF THEIR DEFENSE SYSTEM. Losing an EAR does not make these bull defenseless. Besides the fact that EARS do not kill other animals – in this scenario, ears are NOT cut off the bull unless the animal is already dead.
    Further, animals such as bulls also STOMP OTHER ANIMALS (you guessed it – both the 4-legged & the 2-legged variety) TO DEATH. THIS IS ALSO PART OF THEIR DEFENSE SYSTEM.
    If the writer wishes to raise a valid argument to sway public opinion to match his own, he must 1) learn what different body parts of an animal are; 2) learn how the animals he wishes to describe, DEFEND THEMSELVES.
    Sad that someone who doesn’t understand these very basic concepts actually ‘writes’ and fills space on the Internet. Please – learn facts prior to writing and THEN build your argument – whichever way you want to go – so it is worthwhile and has some validity. Otherwise, you are just making a joke about an issue.

  6. Dee Mirich and the Supremes - May 23, 2010 at 1:06 PM

    Well. That was … insane. For those of you wondering what Lori looks like, here you go. http://www.creepygif.com/images/full/150.gif

  7. Repo 105 - May 23, 2010 at 4:09 PM

    Bullfighting is the only art in which the artist is in danger of death and in which the degree of brilliance in the performance is left to the fighter’s honor. -Ernest Hemingway….Gored with honor, he was.

  8. Response to Lori - May 23, 2010 at 4:48 PM

    Nobody said the ear was the “defense”, the ears being cut off is a part of the tradition, the author didn’t mean to say horn. The animal was defenseless either because it was restrained, or simply dead, not because of horn removal. There are no errors in the article.

  9. Katherine - May 23, 2010 at 4:55 PM

    You’re right “um”, that bull was totally asking for it when he was forced in a cage and aggrivated, stabbed and ultimatly killed for it.
    It’s not like this animal viciously attacked him for “no reason”. The bullfighter asked for every moment of pain he recieved.

  10. humane meateater - Jun 1, 2010 at 6:41 PM

    sport? scary humans that think this is fun to watch. who CARES about a tradition if its barbaric? pitiful people hanging on to something that shows their reluctance to think for themselves.

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