Home » Killer Bull Strikes Again

Ten year old bull, Raton, ("The Mouse"),  killed his third person on August 13, 2011.  It was part of the fun at the Xativa Summer Festival in the Valencia region of eastern Spain.  The 29-year old, unnamed victim was reportedly drunk.  He was removed from the ring and escorted back to his seat earlier in the bull running activities, but did not stay put.  When he encountered Raton he was thrown into the air and hit along the ground.  The man died later at the hospital.  Government officials have opened an investigation, but Raton certainly cannot be blamed.  That is why he was there.

Raton, a legendary 1,100 pound el toro asesino (killer bull), receives star billing and is paid as much as 10,000 euros ($14,250), by bullfighting clubs and organizers of summer festivals.  Because of his reputation for hurting people, fans travel from around the country to see him.  Gregorio de Jesus, Raton's owner said, "He's the one that gets the highest price, but [he] still works out the cheapest.  Wherever he goes, organizers double the ticket price."

Born in April, 2001, "The Mouse" was given his name because of his diminutive size as a calf.  He first appeared in the bullring in September 2002.  He gored his first matador in 2004.  In 2005, at a bull run festival (where spectators are permitted to run with the bull in the streets or in the bull ring), Raton gored a dozen people.  On August 9, 2006, Raton killed his first man, goring him ten times.  Hundreds of thousands saw video of the event on the internet.  He became an instant star, a muy buenos (very good), bull.  "The Mouse" scored his second kill in 2008.  He attacked a 27-year old amateur matador, catching up to the man only two feet from safety.  After hitting him from behind, Raton threw him in the air several times before leaving him trampled dead in the ring. A video of this month's attack show the man being lifted on the bull's horns before being thrown to the ground.

De Jesus is a former matador himself who fought in Mexico.  He compares Raton to Muhammad Ali saying: "He's agile, smart, fast.  He thinks, analyzes, and then attacks."  He says the people come to see a good performance.  De Jesus credits Raton's unusual deadliness to the bull's physique and action in the ring.  "Raton is a very agile bull, with long limbs, which greatly facilitates his actions on the stage, bank and pyramid," the owner said. "He attacks with short and repetitive thrusts at the same time as swinging the head to the left and right, causing all his victims a much higher number of injuries than normal in these cases.

De Jesus believes that Raton's temperament may come from a childhood trauma.  Children locked the young bull in the dark for hours.  "The Mouse" was shaking when de Jesus found him. "Since then Raton has been lightly worked compared to other fighting bulls," he said.  Most are on tour year round while Raton has been limited to ten appearances a year.  He has performed only in areas of Spain where bullfighting regulations do not require that the animal be killed after the fight.

At 10, Raton is the equivalent of a 60-year old man.  He was scheduled to retire last year but due to demand from his fans de Jesus decided to prolong the bull's career. In 2010, de Jesus proposed that Raton should be cloned.  He asked the Generalitat Valenciana for financial assistance.  He was told that the government would consider the request, but no decision has yet been made.