In a second recent incident of its kind, a Swedish stripper jumped into a bullring in Málaga to comfort the dying bull. Animal rights activists, PETA, have hailed her bravery.
Amkina Axelsson, 41, attended a bull fight at the La Malagueta bullring in Málaga recently. After holding up a banner saying "No Más Tauromaquia!" or "No More Bullfighting!" during the event, she jumped over the barrier into the bullring to comfort the dying bull, but was removed from the area by the one of the matadors.
Axelsson describes herself as a Swedish stripper and adult model and lives in Marbella on the Costa del Sol in southern Spain with her husband. She told The Local, "It was a symbolic act to show that we are thinking about the bull."
"No animal should have to endure an agonizing and unnecessary death for the enjoyment of a crowd."
"I join together with PETA to urge all compassionate people to stop these cruel events, which have been condemned internationally, by never attending a bullfight."
— Amina Axelsson (@AminaAxelsson) September 19, 2015
Axelsson says she was nervous about doing it, but was more nervous about police than the bull itself, and while she was arrested after the protest, she said the policeman was "fantastic".
"He was also against bullfighting, he was definitely on my side."However, Axelsson will have to pay a fine for her actions, but says this doesn't worry her.
"I’m still going to stand up for what I believe in."Watch Axelsson jump into the bullring in the video below.
Axelsson's protest was nothing new to Málaga, as in August this year a Spanish woman, Virginia Ruiz, also jumped into the bullring, but in her case she managed to give the bull comfort as it lay on the ground dying.
After the event, Ruiz told the Spanish TV station Telecinco, "I wanted to give him love before he left this world." Her protest can be seen in the video below.
PETA released a statement Monday where Mimi Bekhechi, director of PETA UK, condemned bullfighting practices in Spain, which she said included "subjecting the animal to electric shocks" along with "tranquilizing" the bulls before the corridas.
According to PETA, 12 people died in July and August after being gored by bulls, making this the deadliest summer bullfighting season in 15 years.
Source: The Local / PETA
