A Look into the World of Cock Fighting and the Cruelty of Animals Involved in this Sport

Cock fighting is a blood sport in which two gamecocks fight in ring called a cockpit. Gamecocks are male roosters that are bred to have high levels of strength and stamina in order to fight. These male cocks have an instinctual aggression towards all other males of the same species. Cock fighting has been going on for over 6,000 years, and it seems to have originated in eastern countries such as India, China, and Persia before spreading around the world.

Sometimes metal spurs are adhered to the cock’s natural spurs in order to increase the amount of damage the two fighting birds can inflict upon one another. The fight is initiated when the owners of the two gamecocks place them into the cockpit, and they fight until one of them dies or is severely injured. Spectators surround the cockpit to watch the matches, and there are usually wagers placed on the fight.

Animal Cruelty

The longtime violent sport of cock fighting is extremely inhumane to the gamecocks that are bred to fight to the death. The cocks are often kept in very poor conditions such a small cage or incredibly unkept and filthy areas. Only the strongest and fittest cocks are allowed to live only to be forced to fight to the death. The smaller and weaker ones are killed and discarded often immediately.

The cocks are starved or overfeed at times, and sometimes they are pumped full of steroids or highly unnatural amounts of hormones. They also get heavily overworked and trained as hard as physically possible. The losing gamecocks will be thrown away into a trash receptacle right outside the cockpit once they are killed in a fight or even when they are severely injured. In those situations, the poor cock is thrown away as it suffers immensely until finally dying. These animals are treated horribly their entire lives.

Currently there are multiple organizations and associations that attempt to combat and eliminate the cock fighting rings held around the world. Some of the largest and most powerful of these organizations include PETA and ASPCA. They suggest contacting your local law enforcement agencies or them if you know about or have encountered cock fighting or any other fighting of animals for sport like dog fighting.

Connection to other Crime

The crime associated with cock fighting goes well beyond just the criminal cruelty of animals. Other illegal activities related to cock fighting are illegal gambling, drug use and drug distribution, robbery, and even murder. Adults will sometimes bring their young children to cock fights exposing them to the dark world of this blood sport at a very young age.

An unidentified cockfighter said, “If you’ve got a clandestine operation going somewhere, where there’s some money involved, you’re going to have people of questionable morality show up, try to peddle their wares, like some dope or something. Occasionally you’ll hear where masked men come in with guns and they rob people, because they know, who’s going to call the cops on them?”

Cock Fighting is illegal in all of the 50 states as well as the district of Columbia in the United States of America. It is a felony in 42 of the fifty states and Washington D.C. Possessing cocks for fighting is a crime in 39 states along with D.C., and it is illegal to be a spectator at a cock fight in 43 of the 50 states and the District of Columbia too. Most civilized countries around the world have legislation passed to deter cock fighting and make it an illegal act or crime.

In the United Kingdom 1xBet was found to be offering betting markets on cock fighting as well as many other illegal or immoral activities. I believe the website was shut down as it should be.

Sources:

“Cockfighting”, aspca.org, September 19, 2019.

“Cockfighting”, peta.org, September 19, 2019.