Sunday, January 21, 2007

Festival bulls and bullfighters breathalysed

Both bulls and bullfighters were breathalysed at a South Indian bull-taming festival in a bid to quell the bravado of contestants and slash the number of injuries, authorities said.

More than 400 people were hurt last year during the ancient sport, known as Jallikattu, when Indians try to tame running bulls by grabbing the animals' horns or their distinctive hump.

The animals and the fighters are often plied beforehand with large amounts of a local brew, known as arrack, at the festival in the southeastern state of Tamil Nadu.

But the number of injuries plummeted to just 60 this year after authorities introduced medical tests for the first time, district collector said T Udayachandran.

"Seven bulls and four men were disqualified during tests to detect consumption of alcohol or other banned substances," he said.

Apart from breathalyser tests, authorities took blood or looked into the bulls' eyes to see if they were drunk.

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