In Malagueta, Spain, during one of the nation’s free bullfights, animal rights activists Virginia Ruiz, 38, jumped into the ring to comfort a dying bull on August 14th. Much to the crowd’s dismay, Ruiz was able to lay her body over the bull and shield him before arena officials and fans violently hauled her away.

Said Ms. Ruiz to The Examiner via Skype:

“I could hear him crying in pain and I jumped down, walked across the ring to where he lay dying. He looked at me and I believe he felt my energy. I wanted to give him love before he left this earth.”

Interestingly – or perhaps not – out of the 9,000-seat arena, Ruiz was the only one in favor of treating the bull like a living, feeling being. Everyone else booed her out of the arena and angrily responded to her activism.

As she was pulled off the bull, the crowd of bullfighting fans jeered, yelling “fuera!” (get out) in unison. “They called me names,” said Ruiz, “they kicked me, they spit on me, they told me to go back to the kitchen and they called me a whore.”

Eventually, the bull was stabbed to death.

Because the bullfight had been hosted on a day with free admission, Ruiz did not buy a ticket to enter the arena. Her intention, she claims, was merely to “film the cruelty in the ring,” which was only three-fourths full despite the free admission.

It was an impulsive instinct to walk into the arena and try to protect the bull when he cried out, she says. “Because I was walking, not running, they [the crowd] didn’t yet realize I am an activist until I got very close to the bull,” said Ruiz. “He was still alive before they could do the final stabbing with the small knife in the back of the neck. He was crying, he tried looking at the people,” she said.

Ms. Ruiz has been an anti-bullfighting activist since 2008 and said that there were only about 1500 people present in the ring that day. According to her, the side of the arena which was in the sun was empty and the shady side was only three-fourths full, including “many children in attendance.”

After Ms. Ruiz was violently escorted out and held illegally, she was grilled on the spot by local police, who noted her address. She will be receiving a notice for trespassing and will have to pay a fine of up to 6000 Euros ( $6700).

The European parliament subsidizes the blood sport of bullfighting with 600 million Euros per year.

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