Animal Fighting 339 cultures, with some of its most obscure forms, such as the little-known camel wrestling for instance, dating back more than 2,400 years (Robehmed 2014) ‘Baiting’2, an alternative term for fighting, is applied to any activity where forced, often inter-species, combat occurs It can take many forms but most, such as bear-baiting, badger-baiting and bull-baiting will involve one or more dogs trained to torment and attack the other animal (Atkinson and Young 2008) In the case of bear-baiting the teeth and claws of the bear would usually be filed down and the animal often chained up by the neck or leg before one or more dogs attacked If a dog should become injured or be killed, a replacement dog would be sent into the pit In the UK, the very similar activity of lion-baiting was popular from the times of James in the 1600s until public outrage saw the last of this sport in 1825 (Hone 1826, p 499; Waters 2013) Bull-baiting too enjoyed widespread popularity in Britain during the same period Many of these sports would attract royal patronage and dedicated amphitheatres, pits or arenas called ‘bear-gardens’ (Elmes 1831) Cockfighting is also considered to date from antiquity, being possibly one of the more global of the animal fighting sports Some reports claim it has roots before 2000 BC but certainly the first recorded cockfight in China dates back to 517BC (Dundes 1994, p 242) This ‘sport’ sees two roosters or ‘gamecocks’, bred for their stamina, strength and natural aggression to other males, pitted against each other in a ring or ‘cockpit’ For increased entertainment the birds are sometimes fitted with metal spurs, called ‘gaffs’, upon their natural spurs to ensure blood is drawn, although that is often the outcome without such additional aids Not every fight will result in the death of a bird but they will usually sustain significant physical trauma The breeding, housing and training of these birds is highly structured and can even involve the use of performance enhancing or illegal drugs to aid their capacity to fight in the pit (Merck 2013, p 250) In the UK, cockfighting should not be dismissed as an obsolete sport, rather, the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals’ (RSPCA) database reveals an increase in reports on cockfighting from In the UK the term was specified in law as an offence within section 1.1 of the 1911 Protection of Animals Act, see http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Geo5/1-2/27 This was then superseded by the Animal Welfare Act 2006 which does not employ this term Elsewhere baiting is defined in more detail within legislation, see https://www.animallaw.info/statute/sc-dogfighting-chapter-27-animal-fightingand-baiting-act