Victory! Colombian congress prohibits bullfighting in the country!

The end of bullfighting has arrived throughout Colombia. After months of intense work by the Colombia Sin Toreo coalition in both chambers of Congress, the bill that puts an end to bullfighting, corralejas and all cruel entertainment with animals was approved by a majority vote.

After the fourth debate, which had been postponed for several weeks, the bill banning cruel entertainment practices with animals, i.e. bullfights, ‘novilladas’, ‘rejones’ y ‘becerradas’ was finally passed with 93 votes in favour and 2 against.

From now on, as part of the legislative process, the text must be reconciled in the Senate so that it does not contain any illegality, a fact which was already reviewed in the four previous debates, however this is a procedure that usually advances with ease of adjusting details of the text and from there it goes to President Petro to be sanctioned and promulgated.

Members of the International Anti-Bullfighting Network in Bogotá, Colombia in 2013.

The bill provides a three-year transition period to carry out the economic and labor reconversion of individuals or families who demonstrate that they derive their livelihood from these activities. To this end, the Congress ordered the Ministries of Culture and Environment to regulate, within two months after the law has come into force, the conditions under which bullfighting shows can take place in the three transition years. It should be under “the highest standards of animal welfare and protection”, as established in the text of the law project. Finally, the project establishes that the bullrings will have to be transformed so that they can be used for cultural, artistic or sporting activities without animal cruelty or abuse.

Activists in Colombia against Bullfighting

Now in Latin America, bullfighting is only allowed in Ecuador, Mexico, Peru and Venezuela, with Mexico being the country with the most bullfighting activity in Latin America, so the bans on bullfighting in Mexico, along with the total abolition in Colombia would mark the total fall of bullfighting in Latin America.

Original text: AnimaNaturalis, one of the members of the International Anti-Bullfighting Network.