In a quaint, rural Ontario town, amidst checkered cornfields and unremarkable red brick homes, stands a bullfighting ring where grown men willingly stand in front of charging 1,000-pound bulls in hopes of wrestling it to the ground.
Welcome to Dundalk, Ontario.
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The passion project of two Portuguese immigrants who came to Canada several decades ago, the 3,000-seat ring in southern Ontario showcases an animal rights-approved bloodless iteration of the centuries-old tradition of corrida de toros, or bullfighting.
Professional matadors, toureiros, and cavaleiros are flown in from Portugal, Mexico, and California during the fight season that runs most of the summer. In lieu of stabbing and maiming the animals, Velcro spears are used on the bulls, which seem to only agitate things before the suicidal gang of forcados lines up in the ring to take on the beasts barehanded.
Standing ringside under serene blue skies watching flamboyantly uniformed men narrowly avoid being gored by an incensed bull, it’s hard to feel as if you’re anywhere near small-town Canada.
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