Animal protection society launches bullfight complaint

The SPA (La Société protectrice des animaux) announced this week that it had brought a new official complaint to Paris, against bullfights (known as corridas), their organisers, and the local governments that allow them to take place, reported French news source FranceInfo.

The complaint hinges on the status of the animals - the bulls used - themselves, as they have been officially recognised in the civil code as “living beings with sensitivity”, since 2015, according to Eric Gaftarnik, general secretary of the SPA.

Over the next nine months, the SPA now plans to bring judicial action against those who it perceives to be “torturing animals”, including across four main areas.

Firstly, those who keep “entertainment animals”, such as for bullfighting, bull-running, or circuses; secondly, those who raise animals purely to be killed in an abattoir or for fur; and thirdly, those who use animals for experimentation. They will also seek to have the personal identity of domestic animals “legally and technically recognised”.

When it comes to animals raised to be killed in abattoirs - with or without stunning them first - the SPA will also seek to work with the European courts, alongside consumer associations. Its aim, it said, was to ensure that consumers are aware of abattoir methods.

Natacha Harry, president of the SPA, said its intention was to "energetically engage in a major legal action plan against animal torturers".