COCK-FIGHTING

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 2, Issue 381, 16 November 1932, Page 6

COCK-FIGHTING

still popular SPORT BEING HELD IN PARTS OF NEW ZEALAND. SECRET TOURNAMENTS. Presumably it was to eock-fighting a sport which, though illegal, is still earried on in secret in New Zealand, that Mr. A. M. Samuel, M.P., referred when he spoke in the House of "barbarous sports earried on in one or two western South Island electorates." Cock-fighting, it is gather-. ed has not the following that it used to claim, but there is reason to believe that it is practised in eonsiderably more parts of the Dominion than the one or two electorates specified. There have been cock-fighting meet-* ings near Christchruch, for instance. On so organised a basis is the sport that birds are actually trained for their bouts, and the tourneys are arranged and conducted in formal style. On the score of cruelty, cock-fight-ing is prohibited in nearly every part of the world. In England, where it was once a popular sport, it has been banned for over 100 years, but there still is cock-fighting, though, as in New Zealand, tournaments are far from being the subject of public an-. nouncements. Followers of the sport justify their enthusiasm by the claim that though cock-fighting may be cruel in essence, the fighting- exerts a strange fascination, the thrill provided by whirling combat of feathered demons energised by something surpassing normal conceptions of courage and sheer vitality. According to these accounts, the fighting cocks live only to get at one another, when they are in the ring. The holders, who pose the birds in front of each other, ready for release, are said invariably to experience difficulty in holding their straining charges till the starting time. Equipped With Spurs When the birds are being trained by their owners, their natural spurs are covered with little padded gloves, boxing gloves in miniature. In the ring for the real fights, they are either equipped with long sharp steel spurs, or else use their bare natux*al spurs, "natural fights" these are called. The bouts are divided into rounds, and are supervised by a referee. If a bird is hurt, the owner is permitted to withdraw it from the fight if he wishes, instead of letting the contest go to the normal end, which is the death of one or other of the battling birds. The cock-fighting ring, or pits, are spaces surrounded by a low fence of boards, this being required to prevent a bird from being knoclced out of the ring. It is contended that fights with the steel spurs on are far more merciful than "natural" fights. So skilful are the birds that single blows with the spurs often prove mortal, whereas the death of the beaten cock in a "natural" fight is usually a more protracted and painful business. In ducking and dodging and attack fighting cocks are said to be the equal in cunning of boxers, knowing and exploiting the wealc spots of their opponents. In secluded spots, then, eock-fights are still occasionally held, the men attending them being willing to run the risk attached, for the sake of the excitement which they gain. Up till recently, elaborate tournaments were staged on the West Goast, when birds were brought over from various parts of Australia to meet New Zealand birds. The Australian cocks were brought over on the coal boats. Betting has run high on cockfights, as much as £100 being wagered on one bout. Fairly frequently there have been "interprovincial" tournaments, with birds brought up from Dunedin and the south to fight birds from the north.