Animal used in Sports

       Animal fighting is a sport that has been around for many years. There are several different types of animals that were trained to fight each other, and it is believed to have been most popular in the Roman Empire. Other places organized these events; however the largest were held at the Coliseum in Rome.  These events resulted in over five thousand animals killed, and this was only a count for the opening day. These fights involved animals that were imported from different parts of the world. The animals varied from elephants, bulls, donkeys and many more. Because of all of the captures and imports, some species became extinct or endangered. Those species were animals like the North African Elephant, Atlas Bear, and Atlas Lion.
            As I mentioned above, there was animal against animal fights, but there were also several challenges.  There were humans against animals, staged animal hunts, and feeding prisoners to animals. One of the reasons that animal fights were so popular was because it was a way to show that a human is strong and more powerful than nature and the world. As we see with many other controversial topics, there was little effort to stop these types of events in the past. As people might predict, there was no protesting against the Coliseum fights, most emperors attended these events, and people who were against these events did not attend.
             It was then that in the 12th century, bull and bear baiting were the most common animal fights. In bull baiting, trained dogs would attack a tethered bull. Bear Baiting was also a practiced sport during that time, but it was not as popular because of the scarcity of bears. However, the purpose for these two baiting events is the same. In bear baiting, dogs were trained to attack a tethered bear. Since these fights occurred frequently, issues about animal cruelty and a limited amount of bulls and bears caused a decrease of these performances.  By the 1800’s bull baiting became an illegal sport. After that had occurred, dogs were trained to fight against several other animals like feral pigs and badgers. Many of these fights might still occur; however, it was in 1835 that the Passage of the Ill Treatment of Cattle Act influenced the sport of dog on dog fighting. Dog-Dog fighting then became a widespread practice.
           Dog-dog fighting occurred in the United States during the civil war era. At first, it was an event for the upper class but then deemed acceptable to the working class and even became a family event.  It was outlawed soon after; however it continued to occur. In the 20th century, there was a decrease in the sport during the 30’s and 40’s but it was until the 60’ and 70’s that there was again a rise in popularity because of sporting dog journals. However by the late 20th century, dog fighting busts on media spread interest. Although these dog fights were illegal, there was then an increase in street level dog fighting in urban areas.
         Another common animal sport is cockfighting. Cockfighting is taking two roosters and putting them in a pit to fight. To decrease the number of injuries, a lot of the time the roosters combs, wattles, and spurs are removed. It is also very common to attach razor sharp blades on the leg of the rooster. It is said that cockfighting is the world’s oldest spectator sport. Although it is an illegal act in the United States, it is still very popular in places like Latin America and South America. This sport is banned in all the states, but it only a felony in 39 states. It is also not as controversial as other animal fights like dog-dog fighting.
        There are many more sports continue to be practiced over the years because of cultural and historical significance. Sports like bullfighting, horse racing and greyhound racing are also very common.  Bull fighting is the sport of spearing a bull to weaken it.  Horse racing is a legal sport but can also be viewed negatively. Some owners of race horses overwork them, and they also breed the horses, and it impacts the overpopulation of horses. Another issue is when horses get injured or are retired; there are not many places that will accept them.  Greyhound racing is very similar to horse racing. For these events to occur, greyhounds are breed and kenneled up to 22 hours/day. Retired or injured greyhounds are also sent to rescues or sanctuaries like horses. For both of horses and greyhounds, the negative views are based on how the owners train and treat their animals.
         I believe that it is very unfortunate that some animal sports are still being practiced even though many have become illegal.  I understand that many of these sports have become part of people cultures; however these sports should be changed in a way that minimizes animal injuries. For example recently there was an alternative way created to bull fight to avoid killing the bull. Instead of a spear being used, a Velcro is attached to the bulls back, and the bullfighter aims to stick the “spear” on that spot. This new way challenges the bullfighter more because the bull has full energy throughout the whole fight instead of the original version where the bull is weakened by the spear.            There are ways of alternating other sports just like these and setting regulations will also minimize the number of injuries. Some issues are avoidable, like horse owners knowing how not to overwork a horse. In other cases like dog fighting, these practices are inhumane, and they relate to many other issues. For example, many of the dogs that are used in dog fights are pit bulls, which contributed to the negative views that we’re having on pit bulls today. In some states pit bulls are illegal, and many people believe that all pit bulls are regressive when in reality the pit bulls used in fights are only aggressive because the owner trained it to be.
         There have been many improvements in dealing with these types of illegal acts. The Animal Fighting Prohibition Act is one of many pieces of legislation that states the punishment of being involved in animal fighting.  Many of these sports are related to gambling. A lot of the times the gambling is illegal, and this can correlate to other crimes. In my opinion, there will always be people who break the laws and abuse animals. The abuse can vary from physical abuse like in dog fighting to a less violent act like keeping an animal in a cage for an inhumane amount of hours like what happens to greyhounds and rooster used for fights. I believe that we know when an animal is stressed or in a bad condition. I think that there is a lot more that has to be done to completely stop some of these sports from existing.
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