Colombia's Constitutional Court upholds bullfighting ban and adds cockfighting prohibition

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Colombia's Constitutional Court on Thursday upheld a 2024 law banning bullfights in the South American country, and it went further in protecting animal rights by adding a national prohibition of cockfighting.

The bullfighting ban was approved by Colombia’s Congress in May 2024, after months of heated debates, and when President Gustavo Petro signed the bill into law he said he couldn't "tell the world that killing living and sentient beings for entertainment is culture.”

The Constitutional Court released a statement Thursday saying that it had rejected an appeal from bullfighting aficionados who argued the law violated their rights to artistic expression. The court didn't explained the reasoning behind its decision and added that it was extending the ban to cockfighting.

The ban will be fully applied to bullfighting in 2027, as it was established in the law, to allow a transition period for its implementation.

The court also gave three years to completely ban cockfighting, meaning it will be imposed by 2028.

Supporters can still request that the Constitutional Court review its ruling, but it's not clear if they will.

The Colombian cockfighting federation has said that around 290,000 families live from the activity and it estimates there are a million of aficionados. It had asked Congress not to ban it because it considered it an important tradition.

Bullfights have been held in Colombia since Spanish colonial times. But the popularity of the sport has declined in recent years as views on animal rights have changed.

Only seven countries now allow bullfights: Spain, France, Portugal, Mexico, Venezuela, Ecuador and Peru. However, some municipal and regional governments within those countries have imposed local bans.