Fighting, Racing And Hunting: Cruel Animal Sports (PHOTOS)

Animal sports run the gamut from racing, to fighting, to outright killing. Even the sports that the American public recognizes as extremely cruel persist in pockets. But some sports, like horse racing, aren't so clear cut. Are they cruel? Or just stressful?

We've rounded up a variety of animal sports used for our entertainment from all over the world. From the bizarre to the horrific, they test our sense of compassion for the animals with which we share our planet.

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Orangutan Boxing

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This spring news broke about a bizarre form of entertainment in Thailand where orangutans are forced to wear boxing gloves and fight each other in the ring. During the match female orangutans in bikinis parade around the ring displaying the round numbers.

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This spring news broke about a bizarre form of entertainment in Thailand where orangutans are forced to wear boxing gloves and fight each other in the ring. During the match female orangutans in bikinis parade around the ring displaying the round numbers.

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Animal Sport

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Fine If Regulated Unconscionable!

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Cruellest Sports

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Cruellest Sports

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Comments

[Cailleach Echo]

10:19 PM on 12/02/2010

Cruelty for fun and profit.

Nothing special about us humans except that we don't give a flip about the planet or our fellow inhabitants - and - what we do care about is money.

Take a look - every single one of these horrific practices is popular because humans are greedy.

We're cowards who always stack the deck in our favor. We have no honor. All we have is greed.

[satanlite]

10:56 AM on 11/04/2010

Pretty much all of them except racing horses an dogs are incredibly sickening and point to a primitive mentality among the countries and the peoples who condone them.

[saami]

12:52 PM on 10/27/2010

We humans are the real animals.

[HLL]

06:16 PM on 10/26/2010

Re-post for anyone interested ☮ ♥

"I hold that the more helpless a creature, the more entitled it is to protection by man from the cruelty of man"
~ Gandhi

Help end Bear Baying:
http://ourcompass.wordpress.com/2010/08/24/bear-baiting-in-south-carolina/

http://www.thestate.com/2010/08/24/1430342/group-calls-for-end-to-bear-baying.html

http://www.humanesociety.org/news/news/2010/08/bear_baiting_082310.html

Help stop Dog Fighting:
http://www.stopdogfighting.net/

http://www.helpstopdogfighting.com/

Help stop Cockfighting:
http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=73452402633&topic=14217

Help stop rodeo Bull Riding:
http://www.all-creatures.org/adow/cam-rod-pic.html

http://www.alv.org.au/issues/stoprodeo.php

Help stop Bull Fighting:
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/stop-bullfighting/

[SweetJudith]

05:27 PM on 10/26/2010

Monstrous human beings......Where did the compassion for the innocent and voiceless go?!
Such a sad, sad world we live in where humans get their jollies by killing animals.

[satanlite]

10:57 AM on 11/04/2010

As long as conservatives rule in America there will be little emphasis on improving the plight of animals in the USA.

[molonlabe]

03:26 PM on 11/17/2010

Different board, same ol' righty bashing, eh, satanlite?

ZZzzzzzzzzzzzzz

[Peaheel]

01:47 PM on 10/26/2010

Nice sentiments here but, what do people think about this: http://worldcompass.org/content/ella-es-el-matador

[sheilamahon]

03:08 AM on 10/31/2010

What? Not sure why you are asking. What is it we are suppose to think about? That the evil scu* are women? Bullfighting is bullfighting - EVIL. Those that participate in this, in any way,are EVIL.

[DanaNewton]

12:13 PM on 10/26/2010

It's odd that Alden features bull riding but not calf roping, the rodeo event that even some rodeo cowboys have objected to. It's when they lasso a running calf and it often results in severe injuries to the animal. Mexican rodeos, or charreadas, include pretty nasty events, like horse tripping, that Alden doesn't mention either.

[keynesian]

11:53 AM on 10/26/2010

Is it just me, or is this incredibly disturbing?

Today's NYT has an article about king cobras' resistance to the venom of other snakes - interesting but then you get to the photo they've added. It is of a CAGED FIGHT between a cobra and a mongoose IN A RESTAURANT in Thailand. WTF??????

Here's the link: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/26/science/26creatures.html?th&emc=th

[lotus321]

05:43 PM on 10/27/2010

I have actually seen this live..quite disturbing for some

[cucumber]

02:17 PM on 11/01/2010

It should be disturbing to anyone with a heart.

[weiters]

11:49 PM on 10/25/2010

10/25/10, We humans at the top of the food chain can race, work, polarize, or otherwise exploit animals. the best part is we eat; we have to eat something. Everything kills and eats.

Go smaller. Real small. Microscopic. Observe the food chain from there. You will find all sorts of micro-organisms feeding on a host; this could be you; could be me. We fend off parasites with medicine but the microbes fight back or otherwise mutate. After all, they're just trying to survive.

I've got an once of gold for anyone who can decipher for me, the secret of life. Do I have any takers? ~~~ [e-mail] ~~~ (By the way, the egg came 1st).

[LMPE]

11:25 PM on 10/25/2010

The ultimate poetic justice during a bullfight would be if the bull killed the matador.

[ChristianCooper]

03:15 AM on 10/26/2010

It does happen. I was at a bullfight in Spain and the bull did get a hold of a matador, which is what I was waiting for.

[SweetJudith]

05:36 PM on 10/26/2010

It doesn't happen enough, and the bull always dies, always...

[Edward Standley]

10:49 PM on 10/25/2010

I don't think that a person can harbor enough respect to give to animals until they've stored up enough respect for themselves.

[czs5056]

05:48 PM on 10/25/2010

what's wrong with racing horses and dogs? also what about riding a bull while doing labor like hauling stones the old fashioned way? (I'm sure there are some history buffs who would want to do things the old fashioned way)

[MotorcycleBoy]

07:58 PM on 10/25/2010

I'm reposting this for you benefit...

Yes, but what about all the racing dogs and horses that are abused and/or slaughtered because they don't win races?

Maybe you should Google what happens to those dogs & horses...it's not a pretty picture.

Even Ferdinand, who won the Kentucky Derby in '86 & The Breeder's Cup in '87...he wound up in a slaughter house in Japan in '02-'03

[czs5056]

09:12 PM on 10/25/2010

while i do not agree with slaughtering of loosing animals but the animal is their property and if they invested in the animal to win so their investment isn't paying off and to minimize loss they have to do something with it (i would prefer if they sold it to a farm where it could live a longer life but they are within their property rights to slaughter the animal)

[Andrew Henderson]

12:48 AM on 10/26/2010

You've posted this twice now. Yes there are owners who decide to euthanize their horses, dogs, etc. But there are also owners who decide to give up their animals for adoptions or give them to shelters. There are plenty of ranches and leagues around the nation that take animals such as these. It is the owners option whether to do it or not. This is a case of a few owners giving the rest a bad name.

[Edward Standley]

10:43 PM on 10/25/2010

Saw a story about a horsetrack vetranarian. She said that she euthanizes 8 horses per month on average. Not good.

[czs5056]

02:59 PM on 10/26/2010

but she was performing her duty so what can you do?

[Bamboo Harvester]

05:26 PM on 10/25/2010

GO BULLS !

[Krull Star]

04:58 PM on 10/25/2010

We are the custodians of this planet and thus how we treat animals is a reflection on us.

I suppose though none of these images of the so called 'sports' should come as a surprise.
What else would you expect from a species who has created enough weapons to destroy the world over countless times?

[1110Awaits]

04:46 PM on 10/25/2010

I have greyhounds. They WANT to run. It's hard to keep them FROM running. I can't TELL you how many lamps have been broken in our house when one is rounding the couch in the homestretch. That's not cruel. But, any of the fighting or taunting sports with animals as the objects, I'd say that's cruel. With the exception of how they actually GET the bull to jump around like that in rodeos, I don't see that as cruel either. The cowboy is taking a risk too. If he's not good, the bull wins (ouch).

[peithecelt]

05:51 PM on 10/25/2010

it's not the running that's the problem with greyhounds, or horses for that matter.. it's the way we treat them around running that's the problem.

[MotorcycleBoy]

07:46 PM on 10/25/2010

Yes, but what about all the racing dogs and horses that are abused and/or slaughtered because they don't win races?

Maybe you should Google what happens to those dogs & horses...it's not a pretty picture.

Even Ferdinand, who won the Kentucky Derby in '86 & The Breeder's Cup in '87...he wound up in a slaughter house in Japan in '02-'03