By briefly observing a celebration in which they are used bulls or heifers we can observe that the animal is not demonstrating its habitual behavior, it is altered, scared, whether or not it seeks an escape route, it is not calm.In its body a series of processes are being carried out that warn of a potential damage.
Any new situation, even if it is not dangerous, can cause stress to an animal that has never experienced that specific situation, so simply by riding a transport truck to a bull, either in the direction of the slaughterhouse, the square or the street, it provokes a response of stress and fear.Bulls suffer in confinements and not only because of the injuries they may suffer.
In this article of Animals and Pets Online we will analyze if the bulls feel pain and how they are able to bear it during the fight.
What is the pain?
The International Association for the Study of Pain defines pain as "an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage, or that is described in terms of such damage."
The pain that animals experience is unique in each individual, that is, it is subjective and not only because we each have a different pain threshold, but because pain is not just a physical symptom, it can also be psychological and social, It can affect the natural behavior of animals.
The biological meaning of pain is the prevalence of the individual.The painful sensations activanareas of the brain that can result in attack, flight or avoidance of stimulation caused by the pain.
Non-human animals do not have verbal communication, therefore, diagnosing how much they are suffering can be complicated, but they have the same or very similar neuronal patterns that perceive pain, identifiable neurotransmitters os and receptors similar to that of the human species.
Types of pain
There are several ways to classify pain according to different scientists, but almost all agree on these types:
Acute pain and chronic pain: A pain is considered acute if it lasts less than six months and appears almost instantaneously after tissue damage.The nerve impulse travels to the central nervous system through high-speed neurons.It is an immediate response to the activation of the nociceptive system (system responsible for perceiving pain).Chronic pain lasts longer than six months, takes about a second to appear after tissue damage and increases slowly.It is usually related to chronic pathological processes.Rapid pain and slow pain: it depends on the fiber (type of neuron) that drives the painful impulse, there are fast and slow ways.The rapid pain is driven by the A fibers and would correspond to the rapid and sharp pain e to prick your finger with a needle.The slow pain travels through the C fibers, it is a more lasting pain and it takes longer to perceive it, for example a blow to the arm, we are sorry, but the deep pain appears seconds later , it is not as immediate as pricking.Somatic pain and visceral pain: the first is characterized by pain well located in the damaged area and is not usually accompanied by other reactions such as vomiting or nausea.This pain appears when the skin is damaged , muscles, joints, ligaments or bones.The second, visceral pain, appears when damage has occurred at the level of internal organs.It is not a pain so localized, but more diffuse, extending beyond the affected organ.Nociceptive pain and neuropathic pain: nociceptive pain is normal pain, which is caused by physiological damage, either somatic or visceral.This type of active pain to the nervous system, formed by peripheral nociceptor nerves, via cen Trains of painful sensation and cerebral cortex.On the other hand, neuropathic or abnormal pain, has the characteristic that it is not common and only appears in some individuals.This pain appears when something is not going well in the nervous system.An example of pain Neuropathic is the pain of the phantom limb, people who have lost a limb and feel pain in that part of their body that no longer exists.
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Regulation of stress and pain in bull fighting
The bull used for the fight is a subspecies that has been selected for centuries to show bravery, aggressiveness and strength during bullfighting.That is why, in studies on the suffering of the bull, it is very Difficult to distinguish if the animal's behavior is due to pain or stress .
The conclusions that can be drawn from these studies are, first of all, that the pain suffered by the bull during the fight is a pain of somatic type, for the affected organs are the skin, muscles, joints, ligaments and bones.Also, it is an acute type pain, because it starts the nociceptive nervous system.
In studies on stress, measures of different hormones, such as cortisol, were taken to analyze how much stress you suffer during the fight.It was observed that as soon as you left the arena, the concentrations of these hormones were very high, but that decreased, until you reach the rapier, when you are stuck a.
This demonstrates two things: that the bull goes out to the arena with very high stress levels but is capable of developing a quick response to adapt.
The bull fighting and adaptation to pain
So why do they say bulls don't feel pain? As we said, the bull has been selected by the human being for centuries, "forgiving" life only to those who presented greater bravery or combativeness.Those animals that, despite the wounds, continue fighting, have a greater adaptation to pain.
This does not mean that bulls do not suffer or do not feel pain, only that they are more adapted to withstand suffering.All the ways responsible for perceiving pain are activated, hormonal levels rise before the stress is that the bull, due to its anthropic selection, has developed a strong adaptation.In addition, large concentrations of opiates have been detected in the blood, which demonstrates a strong analgesic process.
Death has not It is usually a pleasant process, most animals will die suffering , since they do not have the medical advances that we have a part of the human species.The progressive disconnection of the organs results in a slow pain and deep , so that, as a bull dies in the square, it is also not pleasant, much less if it dies due to the multitude of the infringed wounds.
Maybe you are interested in reading the arguments against the bullfighting.
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Bibliography
- Illera, JC, Gil, F.,&Silvan, G.2007.Neuroendocrine regulation of stress and pain in the bull of lidia ( Bos taurus L ): preliminary study/stress and pain neuroendocrine regulation in bullfighting ( Bos taurus L .) : preliminary study.Complutense Journal of Veterinary Sciences, 1 (2), 1.
- Mason, P.(1999).Central mechanisms of pain modulation.Current opinion in neurobiology, 9 (4), 436-441.
- Rainville, P.(2002).Brain mechanisms of pain affect and pain modulation.Current opinion in neurobiology, 12 (2), 195-204.
- Rozas, LAC 2014.Opioid hormone concentrations and their relationship with the response to pain in the bull fighting (Doctoral dissertation, Complute University nse from Madrid).
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