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| Photo Credit: Sabong TV |
Which is why it baffles me no little when I hear of animal rights groups imposing their brand of morality-- if that is the right term for that-- on cockfighting in my native land. Cockfighting has been with us since time immemorial. In fact, when the Spaniards arrived in Las Islas Filipinas, they already saw the natives fighting roosters using improvised wooden spurs. So ingrained it is in our culture that it has become an institution. Cockers even fondly call going to the pits on Sundays their "Sunday School," attributing to it the same faith, devotion, and religiosity that they do to mass or worship service. It is not only a man's world, too. There are even women cockfighters here. Wives of cockfighters also respect their husbands' hobbies as well.
But assuming without admitting that anyone has the right to question or attack anybody else's culture, let's look at this supposed "cruelty" to roosters that these animal rights people are ranting and raving about. They say that putting on knives on these roosters and letting them gore each other to death in the cockpit is a form of cruelty. Is it really? When you observe chickens in the wild, they fight to the death to establish their supremacy over a territory. It is a natural instinct in them to fight. As the great statesman Abraham Lincoln, himself an avid supporter of cockfighting, so eloquently put it: "As long as the Almighty has permitted intelligent men, created in his likeness to fight in public and kill each other while the world looks on approvingly, it's not for me to deprive the chickens of the same privilege."
What those who are against cockfighting do not see is the care that cockfighters give to their flock even before they are chosen to fight in big and small derbies. They endeavor to select the best breeding materials to ensure that outstanding offspring are produced. The chicks are given the best feeds and care. Dedicated cockers wake up in the middle of the night when they hear just a tiny bit of chirping to check if the chicks have been attacked by predators or have fallen off their brooders. It's as if their ears are hardwired to hear these kinds of sounds and their protective instincts take over.
Then, the stags are ranged in wide areas where there are grasses, trees, grit, and other "goodies" that they can get from nature. But the care does not stop. Even with all these, the cockfighter ensures that there is ample water supply while supplementing what nature cannot give. When it is finally time to harvest them from the range, they are hardened in the pens and then later corded. All throughout this formative stage, the cockfighter never fails to give his fowls the nutrition they need. The smitten cocker who can't get enough of his beloved chickens even massages each of them to make their skins more supple and improve their circulation.
Before I forget, these fowls are given shots and vitamins all throughout their growing years. When they get sick, they are promptly treated to ensure that they get well right away.
So is cockfighting still cruel? If cockfighters did not breed these beautiful creatures, they would be going the way of dodo by now. It is because of their dedication that these fowls continue to exist and are seen in abundance in yards and farms today.
Some groups say that cockfighting is barbaric but have they considered what table chickens have to go through before they are slaughtered? If they eat chicken meat now, they should consider where that came from. These poor birds are confined in very small and cramped stalls so that they cannot move. This way, they don't waste energy and the food is converted to meat. The roofs are so low that they are forced to slouch before they are finally killed for them to eat.
What about the furor over genetically-modified organisms? There have been claims that chickens have been modified so that they grow faster, bigger, and meatier. If this is true, isn't there something diabolically cruel about changing a fowl's structure just to be able to satisfy the gut?
They turn a blind eye to the other forms of cruelty that humans also inflict among themselves. I'm not talking about war where there is a supposed "mission" to accomplish. I'm referring to boxing. Why aren't they making such a huge fuss about two grown up men and women bludgeoning themselves to death in the ring? It's the closest to the ancient gladiatorial shows of the Romans. What about wrestling? UFC? Why aren't the animal rights people campaigning against these? Because they are focused on "animals" alone? Didn't we learn from our Biology professors that we are "animals" ourselves? This would spark an entirely new debate which we can't cover here but you get what I mean. Or is there perhaps a more sinister reason? Like getting more funds from the companies who support their cause to make them believe that they are "busy." Otherwise, they won't be able to justify asking for more financial contributions in the first place.
There are still so many examples of cruelty that groups like this turn a blind eye on. And this essay is getting long. Before I wind up, let me also state that cockfighting is a Filipino culture that has actually translated to economic benefits for many Filipino families. From those working in the factories making chicken feed to those who man the stores to the farm hands who assist the cockfighters in taking care of their flocks to the kristos, coymes, and other people in the cockpit to those employed in television shows featuring sabong, there is an entire industry built on this sport alone. Take away sabong and you take away jobs, you take away the food on the table and the money to be spent for education. In short, you take away life.
Cockfighting is our cultural heritage. It has been with us since ages past and now that it is under attack, we should all stand firm as a country to protect an inherent right and preserve our culture and traditions that define us as a people.
