Cantamayec, Yucatan — A video of a street dog gored by a bull in a lasso tournament has caused outrage on social media.
Although the dog was shown pacing around the ring after the attack, her entrails hanging from her belly, it is unknown what became of the stray animal.
“It’s unbearable!” a female spectator could be heard, in Spanish.
But the spectators paid to see violence. Lasso tournaments set up a confrontation between horses and bulls, a dark spin on rodeo that is still allowed to continue in Yucatan despite laws against animal cruelty. Horses inevitably are gored and die painfully.
According to Facebook page “One Million Hopes Yucatan,” (link displays graphic video), the dog was tossed into the ring by an attendee in the stands.
The tournament was held in Cantamayec, a municipality of about 2,000 citizens, roughly 110 km / 68 miles southeast of Merida.
“How rotten must be the mind of the human being to enjoy this sadistic spectacle,” wrote a commenter on the page.
The Human Rights Commission of the State of Yucatan (Codhey) found that even minors are allowed entry to this crude spectacle.
Only 18 of the 106 municipalities in Yucatan have accepted the general recommendation from a 2015 United Nations report asking the Mexican government to regulate the entry of minors to bullfighting shows.
The municipal administrations that accepted this recommendation were in Tzucacab, Baca, Cuncunul, Panabá, Tekit, Kaua, Yaxcabá, San Felipe, Dzemul, Chumayel, Yobaín, Tunkás, Tinum, Tizimín, Samahil, Temax and Merida.
A loophole in present legislation godfathers bloody lasso tournaments on the basis of local heritage.
The hazard extends to human participants. Last summer, a 23-year-old horseback rider died in Ucú during a tournament.
Nationally, rules protecting domestic animals are in the works.
The Senate’s United Committees of Constitutional Points and Legislative Studies is considering constitutional protection for pets that endure overcrowding, beatings, abandonment, poor diets and constant exposure to the outdoors.
The law could go far in changing a culture not always sympathetic to four-legged creatures. Statistically, Mexico ranks poorly in most global indexes on animal cruelty.
