•A person convicted of this offense will be fined Sh100,000 or a jail term of one year or both.
•The Bill if approved will make it a mandatory for bull owners to proove their animal have been trained.
Bullfighting will be strictly regulated if a new bill intended to protect the animals becomes law.
The draft Animal Welfare Bill makes it mandatory for a bull owner to produce proof that the animal is trained before it is allowed to take part in entertainment.
“Any person who promotes, or takes part in any public performance which includes; throwing or casting, with ropes or other appliances, of any untrained animal, riding, or wrestling, fighting any unbroken or untrained animal commits an offense,” article 30 of the proposed law reads.
A person convicted of this offense will pay Sh100,000 fine or a serve one year in jail in default or both.
The Bill seeks to modernise cap 360 of the laws of Kenya, a colonial-era law that deals with cruelty to animals.
Charles Ochodo, a senior deputy director of veterinary services said the regulations are critical to safeguard the welfare of animals.
SCEPTICISM
"If adopted, this law will ensure that only bulls that have been trained and their health and physical state demonstrated to allow them to withstand the pressure of the exercise are allowed," he said.
The proposed law has started attracted scepticism from bullfighting enthusiasts.
Former Kakamega senator Boni Khalwale, a bullfighting fanatic known for organising the matches as a political strategy for engaging masses, told the Star that “any effort to legislate culture in any form or shape will fail.”
He said, “As Luhyas who cherish this practice, we will make our views known when the time comes. Otherwise a lot of views about bullfighting out there are based on ignorance about our culture.”
Asked whether it is now a requirement that bull owners show proof of training their animals for fighting he said “if anyone wants to know how we (Luhyas) do our things, let them come to Kakamega.”
The bill also proposes to regulate the manner of selling animals and domestic birds by banning their hawking. Hawking of animals such as chicken will attract a fine of up to Sh20,000 or a six-month jail term in default.
“A person shall not display for hawking or hawk an animal,” clause 1 of article 32 of the draft bill reads.
Victor Yamo, a top official at World Animal Protection, a global animal rights lobby told the Star "modernising cap 360 of the laws is long overdue."
"We must protect the welfare of our animals and safeguard them from pain, anxiety, fear, and trauma," he added.
Bullfighting is practised in various cultures across the world including Japan and Spain. Multiples attempts to ban it in Spain have failed.
Chicken hawkers across the country carry hens by their wings, at times with their heads down.
The bill is a creation of the directorate of veterinary services and was subjected to stakeholders’ participation last week. It has to be presented to the Cabinet for approval before it is forwarded to Parliament.
Stakeholders include county executive committee members for Agriculture, chief officers and county directors of veterinary services.
The national government was represented by top officials from the directorate of veterinary services.