Seeing Red Over Bid to Clone a Bull

March 17, 2008

Victoriano del R¿o has a favorite animal, a majestic bull named Alcalde, who is nearing the end of his days after faithfully and lucratively siring more than 400 offspring. Loath to see him go, del R¿o is paying a company in Texas about $45,000 to have the big boy cloned.

That may seem like a sweet, sentimental notion to some people, but the idea has kicked up a storm here because Alcalde, meaning “mayor” in Spanish, is a fighting bull, and his sons are sent into the ring to face almost certain death in a 20-minute ritual that aficionados liken to ballet and animal rights activists say is a barbaric slaughter. (Washington Post)