This is a short clip of a “mild” fight in the ring up in Agua Buena, Puerto Armuelles. I say mild because the first few fights are sort of ‘warm-ups’ and the birds do not have natural or artificial spurs on their legs to cause real damage to each other. I didn’t want this to be gruesome, but this blood sport is definitely not for the faint of heart! It gets pretty bad later on and some fights are to the death. A lot of yelling, cheering, and gambling is going on and the night is full of energy. Read more about the cockfights HERE.
This is a slightly longer video that shows a rooster getting metal gaffs wrapped onto his legs before a fight. There is a professional man that is paid by the bird’s owners to apply these artificial spurs at the arena. It seems cruel, but the outcome is actually much faster and more humane than it would be with the rooster’s natural spurs (which are cut off on these birds when they are young).
