CBS's 60 Minutes has done some beautifully animal friendly stories recently -- last month's piece on the poisoning of lions in Africa, and a piece in December on the ivory trade, for example. Unfortunately last night, Monday April 19, the show ruined its good record with a piece on two matadors who were referred to as Spain's most eligible bachelors. The story reported and furthered their heartthrob status, and while showing them in the ring slaughtering bulls, did not discuss the cruelty of bullfighting. It also falsely gave the impression that the spectacle is as popular as ever in Spain. In fact, a 2007 Time Magazine article tells us that a Gallup poll revealed that only eight percent of Spaniards consider themselves to be bullfighting fans. In 2004 the people of Barcelona voted to declare Barcelona a non bullfighting city. The vote was not binding as the regional government of Catalonia has jurisdiction, but there is currently an initiative in Catalonia to rectify the sit
uation. (See http://www.prou.cat/english/ for more on that.) As it glorified the performers of a practice that is not allowed here in the US becuase it violates animal cruelty statutes, the 60 Minutes fluff piece will surely breathe life into the dying "sport" as American tourists who saw the piece flock to the arenas.

You can watch the unfortunate piece on line at http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/10/16/60minutes/main4526581.shtml and you can join the discussion at the bottom of the page.

Most importantly, please convey your immense disappointment to the 60 Minutes producers by leaving a comment at http://www.cbsnews.com/htdocs/feedback/fb_news_form.shtml . You might ask that they balance their coverage with a piece on the Spanish public and celebrity support of efforts to get bullfighting banned. 60 Minutes has shown its interest in animal concerns in the past so perhaps we can make some lemonade here. Please, while being forthright, and perhaps angered, also be respectful. 60 Minutes is a powerful media force. We speak for the animals -- for their sake we must not make 60 Minutes into an enemy of our movement.

My thanks to Michelle Rivera and Teresa D'Amico for making sure we all learned about the segment.

Yours and the animals',
Karen Dawn

(DawnWatch is an animal advocacy media watch that looks at animal issues in the media and facilitates one-click responses to the relevant media outlets. You can learn more about it, and sign up for alerts at http://www.DawnWatch.com. You may forward or reprint DawnWatch alerts if you do so unedited -- leave DawnWatch in the title and include this parenthesized tag line. If somebody forwards DawnWatch alerts to you, which you enjoy, please help the list grow by signing up. It is free.)

Please go to www.ThankingtheMonkey.com to read reviews and see a fun celeb-studded video and an NBC news piece on Karen Dawn's new book, "Thanking the Monkey: Rethinking the Way we Treat Animals," which was chosen by the Washington Post as one of the "Best Books of 2008."