Moscow Mayor Forbids “Bloodless” Bullfights

January 2002

Following an onslaught of letters, faxes, and e-mail messages from PETA and activists around the world, the mayor of Moscow decided to ban the bullfights that were being planned in Moscow. Though organizers claim that no bulls would have been killed in the Portuguese-style bullfights that were to be held in Moscow, Sergei Tsoi, a spokesperson for the mayor, told a Russian news agency, “The show of violence is intolerable in any form.” Mayor Yury Luzhkov believes bullfights run against Russian traditions, Tsoi told the agency. So-called “bloodless bullfights” involve teasing and attacking the bull.