A law banning bullfighting, cockfighting and other acts that cause suffering or harm to animals entered into force in Quintana Roo on Monday.

It is the fourth state to outlaw bullfighting, after Coahuila, Sonora and Guerrero.

Passed by the Quintana Roo state legislature in June, the law also prohibits the use of horses as beasts of burden. It is now a crime to load them with goods and a saddle weighing more than one-quarter of the animal’s weight.

The law protects domestic, abandoned, wild, trained, entertainment, guide, assistant and service animals and pets within the state’s borders either temporarily or permanently.

It also encompasses animals used for all types of work purposes, as well as for scientific research and exhibition.

The law had been analyzed by the legislature since it was proposed by then National Action Party (PAN) Deputy Eugenia Solís Salazar in October 2018, but a version of it had been considered since 2014, when it was struck down for not considering all types of regulation.

The animal rights organization Animal Heroes applauded the law in a tweet on Tuesday.

Source: Reforma (sp)