Indian community in Dallas fights PETA on ban of sport involving bulls - Dallas News

Dozens of Dallas-area residents have joined protests in the U.S. and abroad against the ban of a traditional sport in southern India involving bulls.

In the sport of jallikattu, a bull is released into a crowd of people who attempt to grab it and ride it. It is popular in Tamil Nadu state but was banned by India's top court in 2014 after animal rights groups argued it was cruel to the animals.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, or PETA, is one of the groups that have advocated against the sport. The organization said on its website that bulls are deliberately disoriented, chased, kicked, punched, jumped on, dragged to the ground and stabbed.

A group of Indians with ties to Tamil Nadu gathered Sunday in downtown Dallas to protest the jallikattu ban abroad. Another protest took place in Irving earlier in the week.

They were part of a larger movement that included demonstrations  outside PETA headquarters in Virginia and at a beach in Chennai, the capital of Tamil Nadu.