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Bull-baiting is a blood sport involving pitting a bull against dogs with the aim of attacking and subduing the bull by biting and holding onto its nose or neck, which often resulted in the death of the bull. [1]
Crowds in London during the Royal Entry of James VI and I in March 1604 were entertained by bull-baiting. [2] During the time of Queen Anne, bull-baiting was practiced in London at Hockley-in-the-Hole, twice a week – and was also reasonably common in provincial towns, for instance at Birmingham's Bull Ring. At Tutbury, a bull was tied to an iron stake so that it could move within a radius of about 30 feet. The object of the sport was for the dogs to immobilize the bull.
Before the event started, the bull's nose was blown full of pepper to enrage it before the baiting. The bull was often placed in a hole in the ground. A variant of bull-baiting was "pinning the bull", where specially-trained dogs would set upon the bull one at a time, a successful attack resulting in the dog fastening his teeth strongly in the bull's snout. The extinct Old English Bulldog was specially bred for this sport.
Bull-baiting was not only practiced as a form of recreation; there was a long-held belief that baiting improved the meat quality and tenderness when consumed. [3] By the early nineteenth century, the sport began to die out, both because the baiting caused a public nuisance and because of new concerns about animal cruelty. [4]
The Bull Baiting at Wokingham was advertised in the newspaper in 1774.
BULL BAITING. On Wednesday next, being St. Thomas's Day, Two Bulls will be baited in the Market-Place, Wokingham, which will be run for, a very handsome MOROCCO COLLAR, stitched with Silver, and a Silver Plate for a Label, of a Guinea and Half Value. Each Dog is to be let three Times at the first Bull, four Times at the second, and only one Dog run at a Time. The Owner of each Dog that runs, pays One Shilling for Entrance. Proper Judges will be appointed before running to determine who may be the Winner, A good Ordinary at the King's Inn, between the Times of Baiting the Bulls.
[5] Bull baiting advertised in 1780 appears to indicate that it was organized by a local hostelry.
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN, THAT an exceeding good BULL will be baited on Wednesday the 27th day of December 1780, near the DOG and STAR at Alresford, [lower-alpha 1] Hants, when and where a dinner will be given gratis to every person that shall produce a good bull-dog; likewise a Silver Collar of twenty-four shillings value, to the owner of the dog that shall pin the bull oftenest and fairest, and seven shillings and sixpence to the owner of the second best dog. But if none shall pin him, seven and sixpence will be given to the owner of the best, and five shillings to the owner of the second dog. N.B. No dog will be allowed to run unless produced at the place before ten o'clock in the forenoon.
A Bill for the suppression of the practice was introduced into the House of Commons in 1800 by Sir William Pulteney. The Bill was defeated by a one-vote margin. A second Bill was introduced in 1802 by John Dent, but was defeated by thirteen votes. Bull baiting was still taking place, a newspaper reported in 1818 that a bull being taken from the stake to a stable had killed a man at Bilston Wake. [7] Bulls were excluded from the protections afforded to other cattle in the Cruel Treatment of Cattle Act 1822. Bull-baiting was not finally outlawed until parliament passed the Cruelty to Animals Act of 1835, which forbade the keeping of any house, pit, or other places for baiting or fighting any bull, bear, dog, or other animals.
Bull-baiting (Irish : tarbh-ghríosú) [8] was widespread in Ireland in the 17th–19th centuries.
In Dublin, bull-baiting took place near the Cornmarket and in Smithfield. [9] On St Stephen's Day 1789, a riot followed a bull-bait: soldiers fired on the crowd and four were killed. [10]
In Wexford, the activity arrived in 1621, brought by the Guild of Butchers. Bulls were baited twice a year and their hides presented to the Mayor. The area where bull-baiting took place is still called the Bullring. [11]
In Kilkenny it took place at the site called The Ring, first in 1609, and commonly on the feast-day of John the Baptist (December 27). The last recorded bull-bait was in 1837, after they had become illegal under an 1835 Act. [12] [13] [14]
Bull-baiting also took place in Waterford, [15] Naas, Drogheda, Tuam, Carrickfergus, Belfast and Athlone. [16]
In the 19th century, and during Spanish Colonial Rule, bulls used to be pitted against bears in California and Mexico. Kingsley (1920) said that the bulls that fought the bears, at least while California was part of the United States, were not domesticated Hereford bulls, but Spanish Fighting Bulls, whose weight, agility, speed, sharp horns, and hot temper were said to be dangerous to both bears and humans, and Wistar (1937) said that those bulls were fearless. [1] [17] [18] In a case of the bull winning, victory could come early, when the bull used its strength to gore the bear to death with its horns, or toss the bear into the air. [17]
Bull-baiting dogs, including Old English Bulldogs, Bullenbeissers, Spanish Bulldogs, Ca de Bous and bull and terriers, were bred to bait animals, mainly bulls and bears. [19] During bull-baiting, the dog would attempt to flatten itself to the ground, creeping as close to the bull as possible, then darting out and attempting to bite the bull in the nose or head area. [20] The bull would often be tethered by a collar and rope, which were staked into the ground. As the dog darted at the bull, the bull would attempt to catch the dog with his head and horns, and throw the dog into the air.
In 1835, the Cruelty to Animals Act was passed in Parliament that outlawed "Blood Sport" in the United Kingdom. [21] The bulldog's work was suddenly over and the bulldog rapidly started dying out. Around 1865, dog fanciers began developing dog clubs which eventually culminated into conformation shows. Many fanciers utilized various remnants of the dog utilized for "Blood Sport" to resurrect the "Bull" dog and ultimately developed today's modern English bulldog.
Washington Irving, in his 1837 book, The Adventures of Captain Bonneville , wrote that a bear was baited, and likewise, a wild, fierce bull, before they were brought by vaqueros to an arena in a small amphitheatre in Monterey, California, to fight each other. He called the fight "a favorite, though barbarous sport." In this case, he said that the bear used its sharp claws against the nose of the bull, before catching its tongue, after being repeatedly gored by the bull. Then the bull overturned it "with a desperate effort", and then "dispatched" it rather easily. [1]
Pit bull is an umbrella term for several types of dog believed to have descended from bull and terriers. In the United States, the term is usually considered to include the American Pit Bull Terrier, American Staffordshire Terrier, American Bully, Staffordshire Bull Terrier, and sometimes the American Bulldog, along with any crossbred dog that shares certain physical characteristics with these breeds. In other countries, including the United Kingdom, the term is used as an abbreviation of the American Pit Bull Terrier breed specifically, while the Staffordshire Bull Terrier is not considered a pit bull. Most pit bull–type dogs descend from the British bull and terrier, a 19th-century dog-fighting type developed from crosses between the Old English Bulldog and the Old English Terrier.
Terrier is a type of dog originally bred to hunt vermin. A terrier is a dog of any one of many breeds or landraces of the terrier type, which are typically small, wiry, game, and fearless. There are five different groups of terrier, with each group having different shapes and sizes.
The Bulldog is a British breed of dog of mastiff type. It may also be known as the English Bulldog or British Bulldog. It is a medium-sized, muscular dog of around 40–55 lb (18–25 kg). They have large heads with thick folds of skin around the face and shoulders and a relatively flat face with a protruding lower jaw. The breed has significant health issues as a consequence of breeding for its distinctive appearance, including brachycephaly, hip dysplasia, heat sensitivity, and skin infections. Due to concerns about their quality of life, breeding Bulldogs is illegal in Norway and the Netherlands.
The Staffordshire Bull Terrier, also called the Staffy or Stafford, is a purebred dog of small to medium size in the terrier group that originated in the northern parts of Birmingham and in the Black Country of Staffordshire, for which it is named. They descended from 19th-century bull terriers that were developed by crossing bulldogs with various terriers to create a generic type of dog generally known as bull and terriers. Staffords share the same ancestry with the modern Bull Terrier, although the two breeds developed along independent lines, and do not resemble each other. Modern Staffords more closely resemble the old type of bull terrier, and were first recognised as a purebred dog breed by The Kennel Club of Great Britain in 1935.
Dog fighting is a type of blood sport that turns game and fighting dogs against each other in a physical fight, often to the death, for the purposes of gambling or entertainment to the spectators. In rural areas, fights are often staged in barns or outdoor pits; in urban areas, fights are often staged in garages, basements, warehouses, alleyways, abandoned buildings, neighborhood playgrounds, or in the streets. Dog fights usually last until one dog is declared a winner, which occurs when one dog fails to scratch, dies, or jumps out of the pit. Sometimes dog fights end without declaring a winner; for instance, the dog's owner may call the fight.
The American Pit Bull Terrier (APBT) is a dog breed recognized by the United Kennel Club (UKC) and the American Dog Breeders Association (ADBA), but not the American Kennel Club (AKC). It is a medium-sized, short-haired dog, of a solid build, whose early ancestors came from England. When compared with the English Staffordshire Bull Terrier, the American Pit Bull Terrier is larger by margins of 6–8 inches (15–20 cm) in height and 25–35 pounds (11–16 kg) in weight. The American Pit Bull Terrier varies in size: males are normally about 18–21 inches (45–53 cm) in height and around 35–60 pounds (15–27 kg) in weight, while females are normally around 17–20 inches (43–50 cm) in height and 30–50 pounds (13–22 kg) in weight.
The Old English Bulldog is an extinct breed of dog.
The Córdoba fighting dog was a type of dog indigenous to Córdoba, Argentina, that resulted from crossbreeding old mastiff types of unknown pedigree. They were purposely bred for the sport of dog fighting until the early 20th century. They became extinct after dog fighting became illegal in Argentina in 1954.
Bulldogs are a type of dog that were traditionally used for the blood sports of baiting and dog fighting, but today are kept for other purposes, including companion dogs, guard dogs and catch dogs. Bulldogs are typically stocky, powerful, square-built animals with large, strong, brachycephalic-type muzzles. "Bull" is a reference that originated in England that refers to the sport of bull-baiting, which was a national sport in England between the 13th and 18th century. It is believed that bulldogs were developed during the 16th century in the Elizabethan era from the larger mastiffs, as smaller, more compact dogs were better suited for baiting.
A blood sport or bloodsport is a category of sport or entertainment that involves bloodshed. Common examples of the former include combat sports such as cockfighting and dog fighting, and some forms of hunting and fishing. Activities characterized as blood sports, but involving only human participants, include the ancient Roman gladiatorial games.
Rat-baiting is a blood sport that involves releasing captured rats in an enclosed space with spectators betting on how long a dog, usually a terrier and sometimes referred to as a ratter, takes to kill the rats. Often, two dogs competed, with the winner receiving a cash prize. It is now illegal in most countries.
Bull and terrier was a common name for crossbreeds between bulldogs and terriers in the early 1800s. Other names included half-and-halfs and half-breds. It was a time in history when, for thousands of years, dogs were classified by use or function, unlike the modern pets of today that were bred to be conformation show dogs and family pets. Bull and terrier crosses were originally bred to function as fighting dogs for bull- and bear-baiting, and other popular blood sports during the Victorian era. The sport of bull baiting required a dog with attributes such as tenacity and courage, a wide frame with heavy bone, and a muscular, protruding jaw. By crossing bulldogs with various terriers from Ireland and Great Britain, breeders introduced "gameness and agility" into the hybrid mix.
Human-baiting is a blood sport involving the baiting of humans against dogs. There are at least three known documented cases of human-baiting, all of which occurred in England in the 19th century.
Badger-baiting is a form of blood sport in which badgers are baited with dogs. A baiting session typically results in the death of the badger, and possibly serious injuries to the dogs.
The Cruelty to Animals Act 1835 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, intended to protect animals, and in particular cattle, from mistreatment. Its long title is An Act to Consolidate and Amend the Several Laws Relating to the Cruel and Improper Treatment of Animals, and the Mischiefs Arising from the Driving of Cattle, and to Make Other Provisions in Regard Thereto.
Animals in sport are a specific form of working animals. Many animals, at least in more commercial sports, are highly trained. Two of the most common animals in sport are horses and dogs.
Dog fighting in the United States is an activity in which fights between two game dogs are staged as a form of entertainment and gambling. Such activity has existed since the early 19th century in the United States and was gradually prohibited in all states. It continues as an underground activity in both rural and urban locations.
Baiting is a blood sport where an animal is worried or tormented against another animal, for the purpose of entertainment or gambling. This activity is illegal in most countries with varying levels of enforcement.
Bear-baiting is a blood sport in which a chained bear and one or more dogs are forced to fight one another. It may also involve pitting a bear against another animal. Until the 19th century, it was commonly performed in Great Britain, Sweden, India, Pakistan, and Mexico among others.
The Gull Terrier is a rare breed of dog that originates from the Punjab region of Pakistan and India; it is believed to be several hundred years old. They are often used in dog fighting, hunting, and guarding. The Gull Terrier is a direct descendent of the Bull Terrier breed that came from Great Britain. These English dog breeds, along with those indigenous to the Indian subcontinent such as the Bully Kutta, played a major role in the Gull Terrier's breeding development and are considered to be a direct ancestor of the modern Gull Terrier. Old photographs of the English Bull terrier delineate many of the same features such as height pointy ears and a long muzzle of the Gull Terrier.
