The Jeong-eup, Jeollabuk-do, cattle fighting competition, which has been held since the late 1990s, is being abolished in line with the trend of realizing animal welfare.
JEONGEUP, Oct. 19 (Korea Bizwire) – The city of Jeongeup, located in North Jeolla Province, has become the first local government in the country to stop hosting a bullfighting tournament due to concerns about animal cruelty.
The Jeongeup bullfighting tournament was a popular attraction for tourists and was designated as a cultural tourism festival by the government back in 2003.
This decision by Jeongeup, which had been organizing the tournament since the late 1990s, aligns with the growing awareness of animal welfare. Jeongeup recently announced that it will hold the scheduled bullfighting competition in November but has not allocated funds for the event next year.
In South Korean bullfighting, the bulls clash head-to-head, and the first bull to retreat is declared the loser. Currently, 11 other local governments continue to hold annual bullfighting competitions.
Nonetheless, animal protection organizations have called for the abolition of such events, arguing that feeding herbivorous cows a carnivorous diet and subjecting them to rigorous training and fighting amounts to abuse.
Each time the tournament is held, local governments invest significant amounts of money, leading to debates over budget allocation.
“In Jeongeup, where the bullfighting tournament has been organized 22 times since 1996, the question of whether bullfighting is ‘animal cruelty or folk entertainment’ has been a recurring topic every year,” stated the Jeongeup Green Party and animal protection groups. “It is high time to seriously consider ending bullfighting.”
M. H. Lee (mhlee@koreabizwire.com)
