French bullfighting association chief gored by runaway bull at festival

The bull was killed shortly after the attack that left Dominique Perron and another man in hospital

A bullfighter baits a bull at the Bayonne festival in 2014 (Getty Images)

The president of a French bullfighting club has been rushed to hospital after being gored by a bull.

Dominique Perron, president of the local Paul Ricard bullfighting association, was gored by a bull after it jumped out of the ring at the bullfighting festival in Bayonne, southern France, and attacked him and a photographer.

The two men were first gored in the testicles and then suffered wounds all the way up to the stomach in the attack, according to the Daily Mail.

One witness said: “Mr Perron was hit second. He was hit hard in the right leg, which was badly fractured. His ankle was also dislocated, and there may be other injuries.

“Mr Perron was clearly in massive pain, and was screaming and shouting as the attack happened. He was naturally very frightened.”

Both victims were rescued and rushed to hospital. The bull was then killed shortly afterward.

In a recent speech, Mr Perron praised the “spirit of conviviality” in the sport which was imported over the border from Spain in the late 16th and early 17th centuries.

Bullfighting is illegal in most of the country but a special judicial exemption means it is allowed in certain towns and villages along the Spanish border where there is a strong local bullfighting tradition.

The first recorded fight in Bayonne was recorded in 1701 in the central square as part of a festival in honour of King Philip V of Spain.

Bullfighting has been denounced by animal rights protesters as a “cruel” blood sport, with animal rights campaigners Peta calling a group of men gored at the Pamplona bull run last month as “drunk idiots”.

Now politicians in Spain have even begun talks to outlaw the sport completely.

Left wing mayors in Madrid, Valencia and Alicante who stormed to victory in May’s regional elections are now talking about outlawing the practice completely or taking away public subsides.

In Alicante the town’s traditional August bullfighting festival was replaced by a cycling festival.