Alabama Bear Wrestling Laws: Penalties and Federal Charges

Under Alabama’s bear wrestling law, staging or taking part in a bear wrestling match is a Class B felony punishable by two to twenty years in prison and fines up to $30,000. The offense is codified at Section 13A-12-5 of the Alabama Code as “unlawful bear exploitation,” and it reaches far beyond the person in the ring.¹

What the Statute Prohibits

A person violates Section 13A-12-5 by knowingly doing any of the following:

Promoting, engaging in, or working at a bear wrestling match in any capacity.
Receiving money for admission to a location where bear wrestling takes place.
Selling, purchasing, possessing, or training a bear for wrestling.
Subjecting a bear to surgical alteration for exploitation, including removing claws, extracting teeth, or severing tendons.

The scope is deliberately wide. The person who rents out a barn, the handler who pulls a bear’s teeth, and the promoter who prints flyers face the same charge as the wrestler. The statute requires that the person act “knowingly,” so accidental involvement wouldn’t qualify, but proving knowledge inside an organized event is not a high bar.¹

Criminal Penalties

Unlawful bear exploitation sits in the same felony tier as serious violent and drug offenses. The exposure comes in several layers:

Prison. A Class B felony carries not less than two years and not more than twenty years.²
Fines. Up to $30,000, or up to double the defendant’s financial gain or the victim’s loss, whichever is greater.³
Seizure on arrest. Law enforcement, conservation officers, or animal control can seize any bear in the arrested person’s possession. No conviction is required for this step.
Forfeiture on conviction. A court can permanently strip the convicted person of ownership of any bear used in the offense. Forfeited bears go to a humane shelter, a society incorporated for the prevention of cruelty to animals, or the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.
Restitution. The court may order the defendant to reimburse the state, a local government, or an animal welfare organization for housing, feeding, and medical care of the bears.¹

Restitution is worth flagging. A bear that has been declawed and had its teeth pulled needs significant veterinary care, and those bills land on the defendant on top of the fine and prison time.

Federal Charges That Can Stack On Top

Alabama’s statute handles the state case. Depending on the circumstances, three federal laws can add a second layer of liability.

The PACT Act

The Preventing Animal Cruelty and Torture Act, 18 U.S.C. § 48, makes it a federal crime to purposely crush, burn, drown, suffocate, impale, or otherwise inflict serious bodily injury on a living animal, with a maximum sentence of seven years. “Serious bodily injury” covers conduct creating a substantial risk of death, extreme physical pain, or protracted disfigurement.⁴ The Act exempts hunting, trapping, and sporting activities, but only where they don’t otherwise violate federal law. It also requires a link to interstate or foreign commerce or to federal property, so a purely local event might fall outside its reach, though proving zero interstate connection is difficult once animals, equipment, or money cross state lines.

The Lacey Act

Under 16 U.S.C. § 3372, transporting wildlife across state lines when that wildlife was taken, possessed, or sold in violation of state law is a federal offense.⁵ Because Alabama law makes possessing a bear for wrestling illegal, moving that bear into or out of the state triggers Lacey Act liability. The U.S. Department of the Interior has described the Lacey Act as an effective tool against illegal trade in bear parts and products where state law prohibits the underlying conduct.⁶

USDA Licensing

The Animal Welfare Act requires anyone exhibiting animals to the public to hold a USDA license and to meet federal standards for veterinary care, humane handling, recordkeeping, and inspection. Using a bear in a wrestling match violates those handling standards, and operating without a license adds a separate federal violation on its own.⁷

When Alabama Passed the Ban

Alabama enacted the prohibition in 1996 as Act 96-468, codifying it at Section 13A-12-5.¹ Classifying it as a Class B felony rather than a misdemeanor effectively shut down the commercial infrastructure. No venue was going to accept a twenty-year felony exposure for a gate-admission attraction.

1
Justia. Alabama Code 13A-12-5 – Unlawful Bear Exploitation; Penalties
2
Alabama Legislature. Alabama Code 13A-5-6 – Sentences of Imprisonment for Felonies
3
Alabama Legislature. Alabama Code 13A-5-11 – Fines for Felonies
4
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 48 – Animal Crushing
5
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 16 USC 3372 – Prohibited Acts
6
U.S. Department of the Interior. Pending Legislation
7
U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS). Animal Welfare Act and Animal Welfare Regulations