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Bloodsport or blood sport is any sport
Sport

Sport is an activity that is governed by a set of regulation of sport or traditions and often engaged in competitively. Sports commonly refer to activities where the physical capabilities of the competitor are the sole or primary determinant of the outcome , but the term is also used to include activities such as mind sports and motor...
 or entertainment
Entertainment

Entertainment is an activity designed to give people pleasure or relaxation. An audience may participate in the entertainment passively as in watching opera or a movie, or actively as in games....
 that involves violence against animals.

Bloodsport includes coursing
Coursing

Coursing is the pursuit of Game or other animals by dogs —chiefly Greyhounds and other sighthounds— catching the prey by speed, running by sight and not by scent....
 or beagling
Beagling

Beagling is the hunting of hares, rabbits, and occasionally foxes with beagles. A beagle pack is usually followed on foot. However, there is one pack of beagles in the U.S....
, combat sports such as cockfight
Cockfight

File:Jean leon gerome combat de coqs.jpgA cockfight is a blood sport between two roosters, held in a ring called a cockpit. Cockfighting is now illegal throughout the United States and in most of Europe....
ing, or other activities. These usually involve blood being drawn, and often result in the death of one or more animals.

rding to the Oxford English Dictionary
Oxford English Dictionary

The Oxford English Dictionary , published by the Oxford University Press , is a comprehensive dictionary of the English language. Two fully-bound print editions of the OED have been published under its current name, in 1928 and 1989; as of December 2008 the dictionary's current editors have completed a quarter of the third edition....
, the earliest use of the term is in reference to mounted hunting, where the quarry would be actively chased, as in fox hunting
Fox hunting

Fox hunting is an activity involving the tracking, chase, and sometimes killing of a fox, traditionally a red fox, by trained foxhounds or other scent hounds, and a group of followers led by a master of foxhounds, who follow the hounds on foot or on horseback....
 or hare coursing
Hare coursing

Hare coursing is the pursuit of hares with Greyhounds and other sighthounds, which chase the hare by sight and not by scent. It is a competitive sport, in which dogs are tested on their ability to run, overtake and turn a hare, rather than a form of hunting aiming at the capture of game....
.






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Bloodsport or blood sport is any sport
Sport

Sport is an activity that is governed by a set of regulation of sport or traditions and often engaged in competitively. Sports commonly refer to activities where the physical capabilities of the competitor are the sole or primary determinant of the outcome , but the term is also used to include activities such as mind sports and motor...
 or entertainment
Entertainment

Entertainment is an activity designed to give people pleasure or relaxation. An audience may participate in the entertainment passively as in watching opera or a movie, or actively as in games....
 that involves violence against animals.

Bloodsport includes coursing
Coursing

Coursing is the pursuit of Game or other animals by dogs —chiefly Greyhounds and other sighthounds— catching the prey by speed, running by sight and not by scent....
 or beagling
Beagling

Beagling is the hunting of hares, rabbits, and occasionally foxes with beagles. A beagle pack is usually followed on foot. However, there is one pack of beagles in the U.S....
, combat sports such as cockfight
Cockfight

File:Jean leon gerome combat de coqs.jpgA cockfight is a blood sport between two roosters, held in a ring called a cockpit. Cockfighting is now illegal throughout the United States and in most of Europe....
ing, or other activities. These usually involve blood being drawn, and often result in the death of one or more animals.

Use of the term "blood sport"

Boarhunting2
According to the Oxford English Dictionary
Oxford English Dictionary

The Oxford English Dictionary , published by the Oxford University Press , is a comprehensive dictionary of the English language. Two fully-bound print editions of the OED have been published under its current name, in 1928 and 1989; as of December 2008 the dictionary's current editors have completed a quarter of the third edition....
, the earliest use of the term is in reference to mounted hunting, where the quarry would be actively chased, as in fox hunting
Fox hunting

Fox hunting is an activity involving the tracking, chase, and sometimes killing of a fox, traditionally a red fox, by trained foxhounds or other scent hounds, and a group of followers led by a master of foxhounds, who follow the hounds on foot or on horseback....
 or hare coursing
Hare coursing

Hare coursing is the pursuit of hares with Greyhounds and other sighthounds, which chase the hare by sight and not by scent. It is a competitive sport, in which dogs are tested on their ability to run, overtake and turn a hare, rather than a form of hunting aiming at the capture of game....
. Before firearms a hunter using arrow
Arrow

An arrow is a pointed projectile that is shot with a bow . It predates recorded history and is common to most cultures....
s or a spear
Spear

A spear is a pole weapon consisting of a shaft, usually of wood, with a sharpened head. The head may be simply the sharpened end of the shaft itself, as is the case with bamboo spears, or it may be of another material fastened to the shaft, such as obsidian, iron or bronze....
 might also wound an animal, which would then be chased and perhaps killed at close range, as in medieval
Medieval hunting

Throughout Western Europe in the Middle Ages, men hunted wild animals. While game was at times an important source of food, it was rarely the principal source of nutrition....
 boar
Boar

The wild boar , or colloquially simply called the boar, is an omnivorous, wikt:gregarious mammal of the family Suidae. It is native across much of Central Europe, the Mediterranean Basin and much of Asia as far south as Indonesia, and has been introduced elsewhere....
 hunting. The term was popularised by author (1851–1939).

Later, the term seems to have been applied to various kinds of baiting
Bait (dogs)

Bait or Baiting is the act of worrying or Suffering a chained or confined animal by setting Game dogs upon it for sport. The dogs bite, and tear to subdue the opposing animal by incapacitating or Death it....
 and forced combat: bull-baiting
Bull-baiting

Bull-baiting is a blood sport involving the Bait of Cattle....
, bear-baiting
Bear-baiting

Bear-baiting is a blood sport involving the animal-baiting of bears....
, cockfighting and later developments such as dog fighting
Dog fighting

Dog fighting is a fight between Game dogs. This blood sport is utilized for entertainment and may also create a revenue stream from Dog breeding fees, Admission to an event or establishment fees, and gambling....
 and rat-baiting
Rat-baiting

Rat-baiting is a blood sport involving the Bait of rats in a pit....
. The animals were specially bred, confined and forced to fight. In the Victorian era
Victorian era

The Victorian Era of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the period of Victoria of the United Kingdom reign from June 1837 to January 1901....
, social reformers began a vocal opposition to such activities, claiming grounds of ethics
Ethics

Ethics is a word for a philosophy that encompasses proper conduct and good living. It is significantly broader than the common conception of ethics as the analyzing of right and wrong....
, morality
Morality

Morality has three principal meanings.In its first, descriptive usage, morality means a code of conduct which is held to be authoritative in matters of right and wrong....
 and animal welfare
Animal welfare

Animal welfare refers to the viewpoint that it is morally acceptable for humans to use nonhuman animals for food, in Animal testing, as clothing, and in entertainment, so long as unnecessary suffering is avoided....
.

Current issues

Changes in usage of the term blood sport illustrate the depth of the linguistic and social complexities of social evolution
Social evolution

Social evolution is a subdiscipline of evolutionary biology that is concerned with social behaviours, i.e. those that have fitness consequences for individuals other than the actor....
.

Hunting

Animal rights
Animal rights

Animal rights, also known as animal liberation, is the idea that the most basic interests of animals should be afforded the same consideration as the similar interests of human beings....
 and some animal welfare
Animal welfare

Animal welfare refers to the viewpoint that it is morally acceptable for humans to use nonhuman animals for food, in Animal testing, as clothing, and in entertainment, so long as unnecessary suffering is avoided....
 activists have sought to extend the term blood sport, especially as a pejorative
Pejorative

Words and phrases are pejorative if they imply disapproval or contempt. When used as an adjective, pejorative is synonymous with derogatory, derisive, dyslogistic, and contemptuous....
, to a variety of activities not covered by the original use of the term. Its usage to describe modern hunting
Hunting

Hunting is the practice of pursuing living animals for food, recreation, or trade. In present-day use, the term refers to lawful hunting, as distinguished from poaching, which is the killing, trapping or capture of the hunted species contrary to law....
 is a matter of dispute.

Bull fighting and cock fighting

Today, under lobbying pressure, limitations on blood sports have been enacted in much of the world. Certain blood sports remain legal under varying degrees of control in certain locations (e.g., bull fighting
Bull Fighting

Bull Fighting is a drama show in Taiwan starring Hebe Tian. It is in Mandarin language and is about basketball. The title refers to the one-on-one style of bull-fighting, compared to one-on-one basketball....
 and cockfighting) but have declined in popularity almost everywhere else. Proponents of blood sports are widely cited to believe that they are traditional within the culture. Bullfighting aficionados, for example, do not regard bullfighting as a sport but as a cultural activity. It is sometimes called a tragic spectacle, because the bull is invariably killed and the bullfighter is always at risk of death. Both Barnaby Conrad's La Fiesta Brava and Hemingway
Ernest Hemingway

Ernest Miller Hemingway was an American novelist, short story author, and journalist. He was part of the 1920s expatriate community in Paris, France, and one of the veterans of World War I later known as "the Lost Generation"....
's Death in the Afternoon
Death in the Afternoon

Death in the Afternoon is a non-fiction book by Ernest Hemingway about the ceremony and traditions of Spanish bullfighting. It was originally published in 1932....
 offer opinion on this matter.

YouTube Blood sport

The video sharing site YouTube
YouTube

YouTube is a Video hosting service website where users can upload, view and share video clips. Three former PayPal employees created YouTube in February 2005....
 has been criticized by the RSPCA, among others, for hosting videos of animal conflict staged specifically to be shown on YouTube, especially the feeding of one animal to another for the purposes of entertainment.

List of blood sports

  • Badger-baiting
    Badger-baiting

    Badger-baiting is a blood sport involving the Bait of badgers....
  • Bear-baiting
    Bear-baiting

    Bear-baiting is a blood sport involving the animal-baiting of bears....
  • Betta-fighting
    Siamese fighting fish

    The Siamese fighting fish , also known as the "betta fish" or just "betta", is one of the most popular species of freshwater aquarium fish. It is native to the rice paddies of Thailand and called pla-kad or pla-kat in its native Thailand....
  • Bull-baiting
    Bull-baiting

    Bull-baiting is a blood sport involving the Bait of Cattle....
  • Bullfighting
    Bullfighting

    Bullfighting or tauromachy , is a traditional spectacle of Spain, Portugal, some cities in southern France, and several Latin American countries, in which one or more live bulls are ritually killed as a public spectacle....
  • Cockfight
    Cockfight

    File:Jean leon gerome combat de coqs.jpgA cockfight is a blood sport between two roosters, held in a ring called a cockpit. Cockfighting is now illegal throughout the United States and in most of Europe....
    ing
  • Cock throwing
    Cock throwing

    Cock throwing, also known as cock-shying or throwing at cocks, was a blood sport widely practiced in England until the late 18th century....
  • Cricket fighting
    Cricket fighting

    Cricket fighting is a bloodsport involving the fighting of Cricket ....
  • Dog fighting
    Dog fighting

    Dog fighting is a fight between Game dogs. This blood sport is utilized for entertainment and may also create a revenue stream from Dog breeding fees, Admission to an event or establishment fees, and gambling....
  • Fox hunting
    Fox hunting

    Fox hunting is an activity involving the tracking, chase, and sometimes killing of a fox, traditionally a red fox, by trained foxhounds or other scent hounds, and a group of followers led by a master of foxhounds, who follow the hounds on foot or on horseback....
  • Fox tossing
    Fox tossing

    File:Fox tossing.jpgFile:Fox tossing dresden.jpgFox tossing was a popular competitive blood sport in parts of Europe in the 17th and 18th centuries, which involved throwing live foxes and other animals high into the air....
  • Gladiatoral spectacles
    Gladiator

    A Gladiator was a slave, criminal or professional fighter in ancient Rome. Gladiators fought other gladiators, wild animals and condemned criminals, sometimes to the death, for the entertainment of Spectator sport in cities and towns of the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire, from the 3rd century BCE to the 5th century CE....
  • Hare coursing
    Hare coursing

    Hare coursing is the pursuit of hares with Greyhounds and other sighthounds, which chase the hare by sight and not by scent. It is a competitive sport, in which dogs are tested on their ability to run, overtake and turn a hare, rather than a form of hunting aiming at the capture of game....
  • Hog dogging
  • Human-baiting
    Human-baiting

    Human-baiting is a blood sport involving the Bait of humans....
  • Hunting
    Hunting

    Hunting is the practice of pursuing living animals for food, recreation, or trade. In present-day use, the term refers to lawful hunting, as distinguished from poaching, which is the killing, trapping or capture of the hunted species contrary to law....
  • Insect fighting
    Insect fighting

    Insect fighting is a blood sport involving insects. It is practised in areas in China, Japan, and Thailand. There are people who train and fight their insects against other insects in underground fighting arenas....
  • Rat baiting
  • Spider fighting
    Spider fighting

    Spider fighting and is a popular blood sport among rural Filipino people children. The game begins by placing two spiders at opposite ends of a stick from a walis ting-ting ....
  • Vaquejada
  • Wolf hunting
    Wolf hunting

    Wolf hunting is the practice of hunting Gray Wolf or other lupine animals. Wolves are mainly hunted for sport, for their skins, to protect livestock, and in some rare cases to protect humans....


Campaigning organizations

  • Irish Council Against Blood Sports (Ireland)
  • League Against Cruel Sports
    League Against Cruel Sports

    The League Against Cruel Sports is an animal welfare organisation that civil society campaign against all blood sports including bull fighting, fox hunting and hare coursing....
     (UK)
  • Hunt Saboteurs Association
    Hunt Saboteurs Association

    The Hunt Saboteurs Association is a worldwide organization using direct action to stop the hunting of animals. HSA activists use a model of leaderless resistance and have been using the same basic tactics since their inception 37 years ago; the underlying principle being to directly intervene in a day's hunting, historically by delaying or...


See also

  • Animals in sport
    Animals in sport

    Animals in sport are a specific form of working animals. Many animals, at least in more commercial sports, are highly animal training. Two of the most common animals in sport are horses and dogs....
  • Baiting (animals)
  • Illegal sports
    Illegal sports

    An illegal sport is any sport which has been ban by law. Many of these sports are blood sport which have been banned on grounds of cruelty to animals, such as baiting and cockfighting....


External links