Shocking moment bull leaps over a wall with a 50ft drop behind it in front of screaming crowd at Spanish festival – suffering fatal injuries
- The 91-stone bull, named Vicioso, was sedated and put to sleep
- He was let loose to charge at crowds during festivities in Ontinyent
A stressed bull suffered incurable catastrophic injuries after leaping over a wall with a sheer drop behind it during a Spanish festival.
The 91-stone (580 kilograms) animal, called Vicioso, was sedated before being put to sleep after vets concluded nothing could be done to save it.
Dramatic footage showed the bull jumping 50ft into the abyss after it was let loose to charge at crowds during the Bou de les Penyes festival in the Valencian municipality of Ontinyent on Saturday.
Revelers gasped and put their hands to their heads in shock when the animal went over the edge of the low stone wall without seeing what lay behind it.
The animal crash-landed on the hard edge of a river bed near a bridge a few feet upstream.
Terrified Bull leaps over a bridge in Ontinyent on Saturday
Vicioso was the second bull to appear during the fourth day of the bullfighting and running festivities.
All was proceeding as normal until the animal slipped free from his rope and ran along the curved edge of a road at a high speed.
Upon reaching the bend in the road that crosses the town’s Pont Vell bridge, without slowing down, the powerful animal leapt clean over the parapet of the bridge, which stands just over half a metre high.
‘These are unexpected accidents’, said Vicioso’s owners. ‘With brave bulls, you never know how they are going to react or behave. In this case there was a low wall, and he came out very strongly. It is clear that he saw it as an opening’.
Saturday’s incident led to a suspension of the festivities.
German Zaragoza, who had helped organise them, said: ‘This was a tragic accident of the sort that happen rarely.
‘The bull was coming down the slope very fast and jumped without seeing what was behind the wall.
THIS is the traumatic moment a stressed bull suffers catastrophic injuries vets decided it could not recover from after leaping from a bridge when it was let loose to charge at crowds during a Spanish festival
The 91-stone (580 kilograms) animal, called Vicioso, was sedated before being put to sleep after vets concluded nothing could be done to save it
Upon reaching the bend in the road that crosses the town’s Pont Vell bridge, without slowing down, the powerful animal leapt clean over the parapet of the bridge, which stands just over half a metre high
‘The veterinary service acted very quickly to sedate it.’
A spokesman for the livestock farm which had raised Vicioso added: ‘With fighting bulls like these you never know how they’re going to react or behave.
‘In this case there was a low barrier, it went off very fast, and obviously it saw a clearing in the crowd.’
But critic Marco Pereira raged: ‘This is pure and utter barbarianism.
‘There’s no tradition here, it’s idiocy.’
Another enraged local said: ‘It’s shameful that people still play with animals.’
An 82-year-old man had to be hospitalised after being tossed in the air by a bull in Ontinyent last December. Initial reports at the time said he had suffered bad injuries but medics later confirmed the animal’s horns had pads on them which saved the pensioner’s life.
All was proceeding as normal until the animal slipped free from his rope and ran along the curved edge of a road at a high speed
Saturday’s incident led to a suspension of the festivities
Researcher Rosa Fernandez found last year 34.7 per cent of the Spanish population supported festivities involving bulls and wanted to keep them, 44.1 per cent wanted them banned and 21.2 per cent were against them but did not want them banned.
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