Roosters

Because of my participation in a community play, I've recently come to know more than I ever really wanted to about "fighting cocks." The two fellows pictured above were my co-stars in the production. The brown rooster is you typical barnyard rooster. He has a proud red comb and the red, droopy wattles typical of his kind. The white-feathered rooster is a fighting rooster. His comb and wattles were removed when he was about 10 months old to give him an advantage in fighting. While it is difficult to see in these pictures, roosters (and hens) have naturally occurring spurs a couple of inches above where their feet hit the ground. The owners of fighting rooster attach blades, razors, and gaffs to the fighting rooster's spurs so that their kicks become deadly to their opponents. The spurs are sometimes sharpened, and sometime the gaffs are sealed on using wax. It seems very cruel, but I also think that as a society we are very hypocritical in our treatment of animals. The Michael Vick case is in the news and everybody is ready to jump on the bandwagon and label him a crazy killer. I'm not defending him, and I think he deserves whatever penalty the law decides for him. However, I often wonder "Where is the media outcry about the huge, multi-corporation hog farming and poultry farming operations?" Are all of those people who condemn Michael Vick so relentlessly in the media not eating their Christmas hams and their chicken nuggets? Unless you are a vegetarian, or have committed to eating free range beef, pork and chicken, you have no right to throw stones at Michael Vick. I attended a bull fight once in Mexico, and while I appreciated the pageantry, I didn't think the matadors were particulalry brave, and I sure didn't think the bull had even a 1 in 100 chance against the literally dozens of men and horses in the ring. What bothered me the most was that the meat of the animal was wasted (and it would probably be very tough) in a country where so many go hungry. We react emotionally to animals based on their cuteness. People who pamper their dogs with treats and clothes and special beds have no problem with laying out rat poison. If rats had big brown eyes, and could sit on their hind legs and beg, we would have no problem with them.