Jose Martinez

Martinez 1

Professor Batty
Engl 113B
25 February 2016
A Sport of Cruelty
Cockfighting is the best sport in the world.(Jose Martinez) Cockfighting is the use of
roosters/chickens in fights. According to google the definition of SPORT is an activity
involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or
others for entertainment (Google.com). Accordingly, cockfighting cannot possibly be a sport
because chickens are not human beings. Although cockfighting is big in some countries because
it amuses people, it should be outlawed in all countries because it means the suffering of the
animals (mental, physical, social) health, causes some neighborhoods to be endangered of
unwanted guest, and it is unfair for these animals that are used for other purposes other than pets
or food to maintain a persons diet.
Chickens can live longer than some may think. It depends on how physically well theyre
taken care of. According to Eric Sakach, an interviewed senior law enforcement specialist with
the humane society of the United States, said that the birds (chickens) can live for as long as
twelve years (Los Angeles Times Article). With cockfighting, this means that the birds live less
time when they are forced to fight. They physically cannot withstand the fighting because the
owner put this sharp object that is use to cut the other bird in the arena. The owner also may
give the birds steroids in order to make it grow faster and stronger. In the article of Huffington
Post, it states that authorities had to euthanize the birds or terminate the lives humanely because

Martinez 2
the birds are not safe to eat due to the steroids within their bodies (Huffington Post Article). They
had many drugs input in their bodies like steroids which made them hazardous for a persons
diet.
The other reason is that the birds had to be put out was because the emotional distortion
caused to these innocent creatures. They were treated badly and taught to have anger as early as
their first year of life (Los Angeles Times Article). Most of the birds have emotional problems
that cannot be fixed any longer as opposed to an animal that has lived with care in a family
owned farm. The difference is that with a family raised farm, the chickens are treated with love
like letting them run freely and socialize with their kind. Unlike those places that raise chickens
to fight, they lock them in separate cages, anger them, cut their wings and make them feel pain in
order to take over the birds emotionally.
The people that raise chickens tend to keep them in cages and the owners usually live
in the areas where properties that are several acres apart from each other (Los Angeles Times
Article). Many people want to be hidden from the police because cockfighting is illegal in all
fifty states (part of info from Huffington Post Article). The United States made a decision to
make this so called sport illegal in order to protect the lives of these creatures. These are
animals that are defenseless against the acts of humans. Destroying an animals health for
inhumane reasons is not right in the eyes of many people in the United States.
At these events where fights happen, gambling is a big part of the sport. So people that
are not part of the neighborhoods come to see the Cockfights. In illegal gambling events that
draw tens of thousands of dollars in bets (Jill Cowan, Repoter of LA Times). These gambling

Martinez 3
events cause unwanted personnel passing through communities where families are present. These
guest can come with drugs, weapons, and can be intoxicated which can be endangering to other
peoples lives (Los Angeles Times Article). This isnt only a matter an animals life, but also for
the people that do not participate in these inhumane acts.
These birds are not just part of a main food group, but in many countries they are
companions that make them more valuable than just amusement. They are a food source that can
help maintain a family in a third world country alive. This is why Cockfighting should be
outlawed in all countries. The health of animals is also an important part of our ecosystem. If we
even had an extinction of an animal, the food chain would mess up. Trying to preserve these
birds with best intentions can show that they do matter. Even though they are provided as food to
people, they should still be treated with care. Using the birds in cockfights and watching them
die for money is not the best scene to see or to even imagine.
Even though people find it amusing of one animal hurting the other, the animals probably
dont see it that way. These chickens were trained to fight. "They're born and maintained for one
reason. That reason is to fight. (Deputy Director Aaron Reyes from Los Angeles Times Article) It
makes some people laugh and it makes some people richer. There are lots of bets during fight which
is why some people rich. The bets people put into the fights are not your bets that people would put
into a casino. often to their bloody deaths in illegal gambling events that draw tens of thousands
of dollars in bets (Los Angeles Times Article). This means that so many people make tons of money
from one fight. This makes the person happy because they are winning thousands of dollars from one
fight that a rooster was raised to do. The case is that these animals didnt choose this life to make
others rich. If anything they want to have a social life and be taken care of well just as people want to
be taken care of.

Martinez 4
Outlawing this sport would help maintain these birds for a longer period of time within
our planet. Killing animals for the fun of it is not great, especially when they are suffering
emotionally because of the way they lived and of the way people try to modify them to make
then strong in order to sell them to others. Watching innocent animals that were meant to lay
eggs and sing in the morning to let one known that sunrise is present are now used in countries
for the amusement of people. If people killed people for fun, that wouldnt really seem right to
the majority of the countries. All nations need to see that these birds that help us maintain our
lives replenish with proteins have to be treated much better. We have to value our co-inhibitors of
this planet by making them kill each other in fights.

Works Cited
Cowan, Jill. Suspected cockfighting ring busted in Antelope Valley. Article. Los Angeles
Times, 26 August 2013. Web. 25 February 2016.
Kaminsky, Jonathan. Washington Cockfighting Farm Raided; 300 Birds Euthanized. Article.
Huff Post, 23 June 2014. Web. 25 February 2016.
Martinez, Jose. A Sport of Cruelty. Essay. n.p, n.d. Paper.