People Are Loving This Dog Version Of The 'Running Of The Bulls'
"You can keep the traditions without mistreating animals."
This week, the festival of Sanfermines is underway in Pamplona, Spain — an occasion marked by its infamous "running of the bulls" event, during which dozens of animals are tormented and sometimes killed for the sake of entertainment. But now an adorable new take on that not-so-cute tradition is taking the internet by storm.
Video has emerged showing a lively group of Spanish schoolchildren partaking in what might best be described as a "running of the dog." In place of a terrified bull, of course, it's a playful pup giving chase — and best of all, he gets to have fun, too.
This video has gone viral online, racking up thousands of likes and retweets after being uploaded to Twitter last week.
"You can keep the traditions without mistreating animals," Twitter user Cacharrero_M, who posted the video, wrote. "Look how well the dog plays with the children."
Many commenters agreed.
"[A] thousand times better than the original," one wrote.
While the "running of the dog" might have been an impromptu event put together by the kids, elsewhere in Spain, whole villages have begun to adopt humane alternatives to bull running. In Santillana del Mar, for example, inflatable bulls are used as stand-ins, goring townspeople with their air-filled horns.
The village of Mataelepino has yet another approach.
There, a 330-pound ball is bowled down the street toward hot-footed participants, preserving the potential for injury that comes with running with an actual bull.
