Dear (INSERT MEP NAME),
As one of your constituents I am asking if you would please vote for an amendment
which opposes the use of our taxes being used to help fuel the bullfighting industry.
As you know, next Wednesday the European Parliament will be voting on budgets for
2015. Each year the European Union provides an estimated £110 million through
Common Agriculture Policy (CAP) payments to farmers who breed bulls for bullfights.
£13.5 million comes from the UK alone.
Next Wednesday you will have an opportunity to support an amendment to prohibit the
use of European funds to support farmers who breed bulls for bullfights. The specific
amendment on bullfighting is amendment 12 of the Green/FHA group, submitted by
Indrek Tarand MEP.
Bullfighting and fiestas which involve the torture of bulls for public display would not be
legal here in the UK (as stipulated within the ‘five freedoms’ outlined within our own
Animal Welfare Act 2006.) Similarly the European Convention for the Protection of
Animals kept for Farming Purposes states:
Animals should not suffer pain, injury, fear or distress.
The CAP allocations toward the bullfighting industry are a clear violation of this
Convention.
Bullfighting relies heavily on the backing of European funds and also funds from
Spanish Administrations. Without these payments, trends show that this barbaric
industry would be on the brink of collapse.
I sincerely hope you will be able to take a few moments to support this important
initiative.
Thank you for your support.