Operation against the cattle spree in Florianópolis mobilizes speedboat police The Civil and Military Environmental Police launched an operation this Thursday (16) against suspects of participating in the cattle spree in Florianópolis. Due to the difficult access to Costa da Lagoa, a traditional isolated fishing community, agents used speedboats to carry out eight search and seizure warrants at the location (watch above). In total, there were nine warrants in the city. The ox binge is a crime and associates it with the figure of evil with even chasing animals through the streets until exhaustion (read the explanation at the end of the report). ?Click and follow the g1 SC channel on WhatsApp According to delegate Alex Bonfim, the action is an offshoot of the operation launched in May this year that investigated an ox binge event in the region at the beginning of 2026. This morning, cell phones, documents and birds that did not have registration were seized. The species will be analyzed to verify whether they comply with environmental legislation. "They were not ringed, they were wild animals. So, they were seized and will now be sent to Cetas [Wild Animal Triage Center] to check whether they can be reintegrated into nature," said the delegate. ??The ritual brought by Azorean immigrants to the state's coast is based on releasing an ox in a deserted place surrounded by people, who provoke the animal so that it runs after those involved until it reaches exhaustion. Operation against the ox spree in a traditional neighborhood of Florianópolis mobilizes speedboat police Reproduction/NSC TV READ ALSO: Practice that associates an ox with a symbol of evil results in 40 indictments Ox spree is the target of an operation in SC and can generate a fine of R$20,000 Historical context In March this year, in an interview with g1, historian Francisco do Vale Pereira stated that the figure of the ox or bull is present in different societies and cultures around the world. In Santa Catarina, according to him, the practice of farra do ox was common in the past, especially in communities on the coast of Santa Catarina. Pereira highlighted that this manifestation is not related to the figure of Judas, but rather to the symbolic representation of the devil or evil. "These games were practiced and this great challenge of, let's say, transporting, of identifying in that figure of the animal, the figure of the devil, of power, of evil. The association is not direct with Judas, but with the devil. No, it has nothing to do with Judas. The beating of Judas, in fact, is a Christian, religious tradition, of many peoples that has to do exclusively with the one who was the traitor", he explained. Combating the practice In 1997, the Federal Supreme Court (STF), through Extraordinary Appeal number 153.531-8/SC; RT 753/101, prohibited the cattle party in Santa Catarina territory. According to interpretation, the practice is intrinsically cruel and is therefore classified as a crime. According to the body, it is the state's obligation to guarantee everyone the full exercise of cultural rights, encouraging the appreciation and dissemination of demonstrations, "but this does not exempt it from observing the constitutional norm that prohibits the subjection of animals to cruelty". In 1998, the Environmental Crimes Law was approved, which began to punish those who practice, collaborate, or in the case of authorities, fail to prevent acts of cruelty against animals. VIDEOS: most watched g1 SC in the last 7 days