Random Barbaric Festivals That Should Be Banned For What They Do To Animals (14 items)

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  (#12) Krakelingen In Geraardsbergen, Belgium

  A withstanding part of Krakelingen is the slurping down of live fish. Soaked in red wine, the fate of these fish is denounced by animal rights activists as a cruel one, since the fish dies an agonizing death, essentially being thrown into a vat of toxic waste before its consumption.

  While the drinking of fishes hasn't stopped completely, the amount of fish being drank has been reduced to around two dozen, and animal rights campaigners hope to eventually replace the fish with a substitute, such as a fish-shaped marzipan.
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  (#8) Goose-Pulling In Lekeitio, Spain

  On The Day of the Geese, a greased goose is strung up by its neck with a rope out in the middle of the water, and festival participants, jump, grab on to this goose, and hang on for dear life while they're continuously bounced into the water like a sadistic bungie chord. The goal of the person hanging on is to decapitate the goose by whatever means possible while being sprung up and down in the water. Using a number of geese, participants are judged on how quickly they can rip the head off. 

  This used to take place with live geese, until it was ended by pressure from animal rights activists in 2005. The current event uses geese that have been humanely killed, however, the geese are not eaten.
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  (#6) Kots Kaal Pato In Mexico

  The phrase/festival name "kots kaal pato" translates to the English phrase "strangle the duck." During the festivities, what happens is essentially the same as what happens with piñatas, except these toys are not stuffed with candy, they are stuffed with live animals. Iguanas and opossums are packed in, then beaten out they exact same way a pinata would be. The animals who escape alive are murdered by the festival-goers.

  Afterwards, a duck is strung up on a wooden mast so that people can pile on top of each other to rip it down - the one to catch it and rip its head off wins. With the help of persistent animal rights and government groups, the tradition was banned April 23, 2016.
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  (#9) The Pero Palo Festival In Villanueva De La Vera, Spain

  During the festivities of the Pero Palo Festival, drunken and rowdy festival-goers throw a scared and confused donkey out into the street to hit, kick, bash, drag, and torture for their own entertainment. These drunken crowds do everything in their power to fire guns and bang drums so the animal remains terrified.

  The mayor and his team have worked with animal rights activist groups, stating that it's hard for them to completely remove the donkey from the festival, and even harder to maintain a crown of roaringly drunk animal abusers from swarming in on the donkey.
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  (#1) Grindadráp In The Faroe Islands

  An island tradition known to turn the ocean red with blood, Grindadráp is a festival that uses boats to round up unsuspecting, migrating whales and herd them to shore - where they eventually meet their merciless slaughter. As the pods become stranded ashore, the attendees grab them, bring them ashore, and slice their throats.

  While conservation societies attempt to prevent locals from participating in the slaughter, the tradition is protected by law. Activists protesting the bloody "festivities" have been arrested and their boats confiscated.
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  (#13) Running of the Bulls (San Fermín Fiestas), Spain

  In Pamplona, the Running of the Bulls is a famously long withstanding tradition as part of the nine-day San Fermin fiestas. The bulls are stirred up and incensed before being let loose in the streets. As they set off in a raging panic down the cobblestone streets, festival-goers encourage the frenzy by hitting them and beating the bulls as they run alongside them.

  Afterwards, the bulls are brought into arenas for bull fights, where matadors lead them to their eventual death. Although both people and bulls die during these events, it is still a cultural celebration in 2017.

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