![\"Matador](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.animals24-7.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/Picsart_25-03-22_21-01-25-883-e1742702524684.jpg?ssl=1\")
<\/a><\/p>\n(Beth Clifton collage)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 MEXICO CITY, Mexico\u2013\u2013<\/strong>Traditional Spanish-style bullfighting is again banned in Mexico City,\u00a0 for the second time in four years.<\/p>\n This time the ban,\u00a0 passed 61-1 by the Congress of Mexico City,\u00a0 may stick.<\/p>\n \u201cM\u00e9xico Sin Toreo,\u00a0 a coalition of organizations, \u00a0submitted a citizen-led priority initiative that gathered over 27,000 signatures from citizens supporting the abolition of bullfights, \u00a0cockfights and other cruel practices,\u201d\u00a0 blogged Humane World for Animals president Kitty Block.<\/p>\n (Beth Clifton collage)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Mexico City judge Jonathan Bass in May 2022 temporarily suspended bullfighting at the Plaza de Toros,\u00a0 the 42,000-seat city bullring, \u00a0reputedly the world\u2019s largest\u2013\u2013and usually among the emptiest,\u00a0 reportedly patronized in recent decades chiefly by tourists.<\/p>\n Bass issued the suspension in response to a lawsuit brought under national environmental law by the civil liberties advocacy organizations Justicia Justa and Va por sus Derechos, \u00a0on behalf of the animal advocacy groups CAS International and AnimaNaturalis,<\/p>\n Judge Bass then in June 2022 \u201cruled that bullfights violated city residents\u2019 rights to a healthy environment free from violence,\u201d\u00a0 Associated Press summarized.<\/p>\n (Beth Clifton collage)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n That ruling,\u00a0 however,\u00a0 was in December 2023 overturned without comment by the Mexican Supreme Court of Justice.<\/p>\n Bullfighting returned to Plaza de Toros six weeks later.<\/p>\n (See\u00a0Bullfighting, cockfighting, & mass murder in Mexico with U.S. links<\/a><\/em><\/strong>.)<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cLast year,\u201d\u00a0 wrote Block, \u00a0\u201c54 bulls were killed in Mexico City between January 18,\u00a0 2024 and March 24, 2024, \u00a0the period encompassing the nine-day bullfighting season.\u201d<\/p>\n (Beth Clifton collage)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Meanwhile,\u00a0 proclaimed CAS International,\u00a0 \u201cOur lawyers in Mexico discovered that the slaughter of fighting bulls is illegal throughout the country. \u00a0This is because it violates two articles of the federal Animal Health Law. \u00a0In addition, \u00a0this activity goes against Mexican regulations on methods of killing domesticated and wild animals. The slaughter of fighting bulls during a bullfight is not an exception in this norm.\u201d<\/p>\n Noted Block,\u00a0 \u201cThere are now existing bans on bullfighting in the five Mexican states of Sinaloa, Sonora, Guerrero, Coahuila and Quintana Roo,\u00a0 among 32 states total,\u00a0 one of which is Mexico City.<\/p>\n (Beth Clifton collage)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n The new Mexico City ban pertains specifically to killing bulls \u201cinside or outside the bullring,\u201d\u00a0 Block explained, \u00a0\u201cas well as to the infliction of physical injury such as stabbing animals with sharp objects, \u00a0like swords or spears.<\/p>\n \u201cThe new regulations,\u201d\u00a0 Block said, \u00a0\u201calso prohibit violence against animals in novilladas, rejoneo, becerradas, <\/em>\u00a0and other variations on bullfighting in which bulls traditionally suffer injuries or death. \u00a0The horns of the bulls will be padded to prevent injury to other animals or people, \u00a0and once an event has ended, the bulls will be returned to the farms from which they came, \u00a0instead of being killed at the arena.\u201d<\/p>\n Cautioned Anton Aguilar, \u00a0executive director of Humane World for Animals Mexico, \u00a0\u201cA bull event without violence does not mean one without suffering.\u201d<\/p>\n (Beth Clifton collage)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Paraphrased Guardian <\/em>correspondent Thomas Graham, \u00a0\u201cWhereas a traditional bullfight involves an array of lances, \u00a0barbed spears and a slender sword for the killing blow,\u201d\u00a0 Mexico City bullfights will now \u201conly allow the matadors to use the capes with which they draw the bulls to charge them.<\/p>\n \u201cThe bloodless bullfights [now allowed] will be limited to 15 minutes.\u201d<\/p>\n The 27,000-signature petition leading to the Mexico City legislation,\u00a0 Graham explained,\u00a0 \u201cfirst proposed a total ban, \u00a0only for the head of the Mexico City government, \u00a0Clara Brugada, \u00a0to modify it and introduce the concept of non-violent bullfights,\u00a0 to retain the economic activity around bullfighting.\u201d<\/p>\n The National Association of Breeders of Fighting Bulls in Mexico asserts that bullfighting generates 80,000 direct jobs, \u00a0and 146,000 indirect jobs throughout the nation,\u00a0 generating total revenue of $400 million per year\u2013\u2013all highly questionable claims.<\/p>\n Mexico City mayor Clara Brugada.<\/strong><\/em> Brugada,\u00a0 while brokering the acceptance of bloodless bullfights as a political compromise,\u00a0 said \u201cThe spectacle of blood cannot be justified under any concept of art and tradition.\u00a0 Some will argue that it is part of traditions and culture, \u00a0but culture, \u00a0music and art, \u00a0even rights, \u00a0change, \u00a0evolve, \u00a0transform,\u201d\u00a0 while \u201cAnimal welfare,\u201d\u00a0 she added, \u00a0\u201cis a right and a duty for society.\u201d<\/p>\n This perspective was affirmed by a proposed Mexican constitutional amendment passed unanimously in November 2024 by both houses of the federal legislature.<\/p>\n \u201cThe legislation must now be approved by a majority of Mexico\u2019s 32 local congresses to become law,\u201d\u00a0\u00a0Mexico News Daily<\/em>\u00a0explained at the time.<\/p>\n \u201cThe new law would amend three articles of the constitution and empower Congress to enact animal welfare laws,\u201d\u00a0\u00a0Mexico News Daily<\/em> said.\u00a0 \u201cIt also mandates the humane treatment of animals as a mandatory guideline in all educational institutions nationwide.\u201d<\/p>\n Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo, President of Mexico. (Facebook photo)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Mexican president Claudia Sheinbaum supported both the proposed constitutional amendment and the Mexico City prohibition of Spanish-style bullfights.<\/p>\n Offered People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals,\u00a0 \u201cThe bill submitted by Mexico City\u2019s mayor doesn\u2019t explicitly outlaw bullfights\u2014but it makes holding them virtually impossible. This strategy mirrors what happened in Bogot\u00e1, \u00a0Colombia,\u00a0 where similar restrictions led to an effective ban.\u201d<\/p>\nJudicial ruling suspended bullfights in 2022-2023.\u00a0 Lifting the injunction aroused the people & politicians.<\/span><\/em><\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nJudge had held that bullfights violate right to a violence-free environment<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nMexican Supreme Court disagreed<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n\u201cIllegal throughout the country\u201d<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n\u201cBull event without violence does not mean without suffering\u201d<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n\u201cLimited to 15 minutes\u201d<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n
(Facebook photo)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\u201cCannot be justified under any concept of art & tradition\u201d<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nAmendment & bullfighting ban both backed by president<\/h2>\n