By the middle of this week the ‘We ask CTT to not sell tickets to bull fights’ petition had amassed 2,686 signatures.
Created by the anti-bullfighting organisation ‘Plataforma Basta’ two weeks ago on the change.org website and addressed to the ombudsman of Portugal’s CTT post office and its president and CEO Francisco de Lacerda, the petition’s opening letter claims “bullfighting is a controversial show, much contested in Portuguese society for the cruelty and mistreatment of animals.
“Bullfighting was recently considered by the UN as a violent activity that endangers the physical and mental well-being of children and youths”, it stressed.
According to Plataforma Basta, CTT made the decision this year to start selling tickets to bullfights.
“In recent years, various institutions and companies have refused to associate their brands with this type of event, so it is strange that the CTT - Portugal Post is, in 2015, to sell tickets for the bullfights held in the Campo Pequeno bullring”, the organisation wrote.
In an update on the change.org site the platform also claims a similar petition that it recently launched saw the Pestana hotel group stop promoting discounts on tickets to Campo Pequeno, while on its Facebook page it says in the few minutes after the CTT petition was launched more than 300 people sent complaints to the post office.
Plataforma Basta describes itself as a civic movement that “already comprises a very large number of citizens from various quarters of society, and has strong support for the animal protection movement in Portugal, continuing to evolve with respect, tolerance and consideration.”
It claims to represent “a clear social will, which does not accept the perpetuation in the XXI century of violent entertainment extravaganza involving the mistreatment and unnecessary suffering of thousands of animals.”
On 8 May 2012 the organisation was granted an audience with the Prime Minster and the State Secretary for Culture in Lisbon after receiving the greatest number of votes from Portuguese citizens, being chosen from more than a thousand different causes.
Meanwhile, the pro-bullfighting association Prótoiro, quoting figures from public opinion survey entity Eurosondagem, claims 86.1 percent of Portuguese are against the banning of bullfights while only 11 percent are against bullfights.
On its facebook page the Plataforma Basta cause promotes figures sourced from the IGAC – General Inspection of Cultural Activities – which apparently found 96 percent of Portuguese do not watch live bullfights.