Many people ngani Butuan can not comprehend the recent news, in CNN and BBC no
less, about a famous U.S. sports personality being prosecuted for involvement
in dogfighting. He stands to lose his career and opportunities worth millions
of dollars.
In Spain, Portugal, and many countries south of the U.S. border, where
bullfighting is a crowd-getter, enthusiasts enjoy the spectacle of man versus
beast. Displaying flamboyance, flair, and grace, the matador during the finale
thrusts a sword and ends the bull's life. The matador is held a hero, is looked
up to like a movie star, and certainly is not prosecuted.
Ngani Butuan, not a Sunday or a holiday passes without a cockfight. A
razor-sharp slasher is strapped to each rooster's leg to maim and kill the
other cock, to the delight and amid the shouts of the crowd. There is heavy
betting. Months of grooming, caring, exercising, feeding (some use 'secret'
nutrients), and even blowing tobacco smoke at the cock, can be very expensive,
all these only to end in a few noisy moments at the cockpit. If all the roaring
cockfight enthusiasts are prosecuted, there will not be enough room in all the
jails ngani Butuan.
In Bukidnon, gory and gross horsefights are held in open fields where the two
horses run wild after each other, kicking and biting the other in a noisy
display of animal strength in a fight to death. And one has yet to be
prosecuted for the fight.
During certain times of the year ngani Butuan, schoolchildren carry matchboxes
with compartments to keep their spiders. Spider fights somehow follow a season,
like takyang and sigurida. Spiders cling to each end of a thin stick and soon
go for the other. Numerous spiders are killed every single school day.
Thankfully, ngani Butuan, the kids are not booked for the sport.
And all over the world, boxing is an accepted sporting event. Big money is at
stake. TV coverage brings the fight to the family rooms of homes all over the
world, showing in living color the blows landing heavily on the opponent's face
or ribs, the cuts, bruises, swollen lips, blackened eyelids, contusions, and
blood and sweat dripping from a man's eyebrow or face, the hard fall on the
mat, man's inhumanity to man. Many boxers have landed in hospitals, quite a few
have died as a result of brain hemorrhage caused by another man's fist. The
victor who hurts the opponent is not liable, instead he gets rewarded with the
prestigious championship belt, earns tons of money, and is idolized in
Cotabato, Vegas, and elsewhere, including ngani Butuan. Ditto about wrestling
and kickboxing.
Dogfighting may be illegal in some parts of the world, and others should
respect that. Conflict however arises when one country's beliefs, and
dogfighting is just an example, is imposed on others. To cite another example,
balut is a delicacy in the Philippines, but forcing others to eat it may lead
to conflict. We all have to be tolerant of each others culture and moral
values, and accept the diversity of views.
It's probably time too to revisit the definition of cruelty to animals, and ask
why it applies only to certain animals and not to others, and not to plant
life. Some folks ngani Butuan want to know why it is not cruel to raise
chickens, vaccinate and fatten them, only to be butchered, made finger-licking
good, and eaten by us high up in the food chain. How about pigs? And cows? And
cultured tilapia, bangus, prawns, eel, catfish, and crabs ?
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