cruelty

Cruel Sports And How They Effect Animals

"The referee shouts, "Ready, pit!" The birds explode from their handlers' grasps and collide breast to breast, a foot off the ground. Beak grabbing beak, hackles flaring like porcupine quills, they bounce apart and then collide, again and again. The hatch takes command. The roundhead rolls over, then revives. He pounds the Hatch with a foot, spearing a lung. The Hatch fades, hunkering down and refusing to budge. As he coughs up drops of blood, his breathing sounds like footsteps on gravel. The Roundhead, fatigued but intact, wins. The Hatch is carried off, most likely to die" (Kilborn 3).

This is just one account of a cruel animal sport like cockfighting. This is a epidemic that needs to be stopped. Too many animals are killed for the illegal profit of a few.

In today's advanced society there are still humans who thrive on the killing of defenseless animals. Some people do this for the fun and the sport, while others do it as a way to make a living. The three animals that are most commonly abused are cocks, bulls and dogs. These animals fight against other animals and humans. Usually these fights go to the death. The term cruel sports is most often used to describe these fights. Cruel animal sports can be defined as an arranged fight between two animals or an animal and a human for the fun and or profit of the people involved. In most cases these fights are illegal. Although with the amount of money to be won through illegal betting the risks are usually overlooked. Especially because of the lack of law enforcement that is delegated to cases like this. Stronger legislation needs to be adopted to completely stop cruel sports that abuse animals.

There are two forms of cockfighting. Naked heel fighting is the less deadly of the two. Whereas artificial heel fighting is a lot more inhumane. Metal spurs of up to three inches are placed over the cocks natural spurs to cause a devastating effect to the other bird. These metal spurs can puncture a heart or a lung with one kick. When the birds fight with metal spurs the fights are for the most part quick and to the death. There is no need to provoke the birds once their in the ring. It is a natural instinct for them to fight over territory.