Mexican cockfighting promoters on Friday kicked off an event billed as the largest exhibition of the bloodsport the country has ever seen. The annual Texcoco Horse Fair, which takes places on the eastern fringes of Mexico City, will see 16 nightly bouts of cockfighting over the space of a month — all of which end in the death of one of the animals. Trainers from all over the country compete not only for the title of best trainer, but also to keep alive what they claim is a proud Mexican tradition despite demands to ban the 'disgusting' sport. Scroll down for video. Razorblades are attached to the birds' left leg to make the fights 'more interesting' for gamblers and trainers. Trainers often spit on a rooster's head in a common technique used to anger the bird before it fights.
Cockfighting birds have RAZORBLADES on their legs at Texcoco Horse Fair
Cockfight - Wikipedia
Big bets and raucous crowds fuel ancient blood sport outlawed in much of Asia. So did Elton John and Lady Gaga. And later this month, the Miss Philippines pageant contestants will promenade under the massive dome of the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Manila. But on this day, the spotlights shine down on poultry. It is the World Slasher Cup, the Olympics of cockfighting, according to the organizers, held twice a year in this 25,seat arena.
Cockfighting is a centuries-old blood sport in which two or more specially bred birds, known as gamecocks, are placed in an enclosed pit to fight, for the primary purposes of gambling and entertainment. A typical cockfight can last anywhere from several minutes to more than half an hour and usually results in the death of one or both birds. Even birds who aren't killed during cockfights suffer terribly. Regardless of how exhausted or injured they become common injuries include punctured lungs, broken bones, and pierced eyes , the birds cannot escape from the fighting pit. The razor-sharp steel blades or "gaffs" which resemble 3-inch-long, curved ice picks tied to the birds' legs are so sharp and dangerous that cockfighters themselves have been killed when accidentally slashed by their own birds.
Skip to content. Cockfighting is a blood sport in which two roosters specifically bred for aggression are placed beak to beak in a small ring and encouraged to fight to the death. Although illegal in all 50 states, cockfighting still persists across the nation in all sorts of communities and among all sorts of people. A bird may undergo several months of training before a fight, which may involve running long obstacle courses and even treadmills and practice fights with other roosters. Once in the ring, roosters often wear knives or artificial gaffs long, dagger-like attachments that are sharp enough to puncture a lung, pierce an eye or break bones in order to inflict maximum injury.