Upcoming ‘Freestyle Bullfighting’ Event Is Illegal, PETA Warns Officials

For Immediate Release:
September 9, 2026

Contact:
David Perle 202-483-7382

Ahead of the “Biscuits & Bulls” event scheduled for September 25 and 26 at DABOS Park, PETA has dispatched a letter to Montgomery Humane Society Executive Director Steven Tears, urging his office to immediately notify the event’s organizers that the advertised “freestyle bullfighting” contests will violate Montgomery’s cruelty-to-animals and animal-fighting laws—and that they cannot proceed.

“Freestyle bullfighting” involves taunting bulls until they become panicked and frantic. Bullfighters grab onto the bulls’ horns, jump on their backs, and tie ropes to the bulls’ flanks to cause irritation and encourage bucking. According to the event’s own promotion, the more bullfighters tease and harass the bull, the more points they receive. But as PETA notes in its letter, the Montgomery City Code prohibits teasing or harassing “any animal,” staging exhibitions or contests that feature “animals engaged in active combat,” and causing “any animal to fight another animal or human.” The code contains no exceptions—its protections extend to “cattle,” “livestock,” and other domesticated mammals—and penalties can reach up to $500 per violation.

“Bulls mind their own business and want nothing to do with these violent spectacles, yet they’re tormented for kicks, with many ending up injured or worse,” says PETA President Tracy Reiman. “PETA is calling on officials to enforce the law and bar this spectacle before anyone, human or bull, gets hurt.”

In nature, bulls are calm, social individuals who protect their families. But in freestyle bullfighting events, they experience stress akin to evading a predator and try to flee or protect themselves—with no way to escape the torment. Bulls used in similar events have suffered broken legs, backs, and necks, as well as heart attacks and aneurysms.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to use for entertainment or abuse in any other way”—points out that when it comes to the ability to feel pain, hunger, and fear, a bull is a dog is a boy. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow PETA on X, Facebook, or Instagram.