Animal Fighting
Fact Sheet
www.WorldAnimalFoundation.com
Bullfighting
The bullfight purports to be a battle to the death in which either participant, bull or matador, may die. In reality, the bull never has a chance to win, and the bullfight is only a cruel spectacle of human dominance.
The bullfight consists of three stages. In the first stage, the matador taunts the bull, making it angry. Two men then stab the bull repeatedly.
In the second stage, men throw spears into the bull's back until the spears stick. The blades of these spears continue to move and dig into the bulls back throughout the fight, causing bleeding and tissue damage. The bull may also experience internal bleeding.
In the third stage, the matador taunts the bull for several minutes before he stabs the bull between the shoulder blades. He aims for the bull's vital organs, but often misses, leaving the bull to agonize. Often, the bull retains consciousness, even as the matador and his team begin carving off pieces of the bull for distribution as trophies.
Even before the fight begins, bulls languish in pens that lack sunlight, food, and water. They are also stabbed in the side before release into the arena.
While bullfights occur primarily in Mexico and Spain, American and European tourists are largely to blame for the support of this institution. The prevalence of tourists at these events allows bullfights to occur with greater frequency than they otherwise would.
To voice your opposition to bullfighting, write the Mexican Consulate nearest you and ask that Mexico ban this cruel practice.
Consulado General de México en Denver
48 Steele Street
Denver, CO 80206
Consulado General de México en Nueva York
27 Este de la Calle 39
Nueva York, N.Y. 10016
Tel. (212) 217-64-00
Fax. (212) 217-6493
Consulado General de México en Sacramento
1010 8th Street
Sacramento, CA 95814
Tel.: (916) 441-2987 and (916) 441-3287
Fax: (916) 441-3176
Cock Fighting
The practice of cock fighting, though illegal in 47 states, is a tradition going back several centuries, and thus difficult to stamp out. Cock fights, like other illegal animal fights, take place surreptitiously.
Cock fights usually result in the death of one, if not both roosters. Handlers place two roosters in a pit. These roosters, armed with sharp steel projections called gaffs, then proceed to peck and maim one another with their beaks and with the weapons that have been imposed upon them. The pit allows roosters no opportunity to escape. Although they have been bred to fight, the animals often become tired, incapable, and suffer severe injuries.
Spectators viewing the fights bet large sums of money. The handler of a winning rooster often makes a big profit. Handlers sometimes give roosters steroids or methamphetamine to make them fight harder and faster.
Although birds in a flock will often fight over pecking order, these battles rarely result in injury. Only birds that have been bred and provoked to fight will inflict the serious injuries seen in cock fighting. Children often witness this cruel spectacle. Because adults bring children to fights as a form of cultural initiation, kids may come away from fights with an insensitivity to violence against animals. Studies have shown that violence against animals is a precursor to violence against humans.
While the United States has a long tradition of cock fighting, as do several Asian cultures, cock fighting should be stopped because of the cruel imposition of violence and death on the animals involved, and for the mental health of children who may attend such fights.
Dog Fighting
The majority of US states have banned dog fighting. This ban carries a felony punishment for violation in all but seven states. Illegal dog fighting, however, remains a pervasive if hidden practice in many cities.
Trainers prepare a dog to fight by imposing a cruel regimen on the dog from the beginning of its life. Trainers starve dogs to make them mean, hit dogs to make them tough, and force dogs to run on treadmills for long periods of time, or to endure other exhausting exercise.
In order to foster the viciousness of dogs, trainers bait them with puppies, cats, and other small animals. The trainer immobilizes the small animals by hanging them up. These dogs, having been beaten and deprived, then maul the small animals to death.
In dog fights themselves, dogs are forced to fight through severe injury, often until one or more dogs are dead. Spectators force dogs to keep fighting by prodding and hitting them with sharpened objects.
Trainers favor pit bulls over other dogs, because pit bulls have strong jaws. Well-treated and humanely raised pit bulls are affectionate and loyal dogs. To the surprise of many people, they are also good with children. Only pit bulls bred to fight become violent and dangerous animals.
Humans in the profession of dog fighting over-breed pit bulls, contributing to the large number of such dogs languishing in shelters throughout the country. Shelters euthanize many of these dogs because homes cannot be found for them.
Cruelty to animals is a precursor to violence against humans. Please report any knowledge of dog fighting or other animal fighting to authorities.
