SABONG

Cockfighting—a blood sport in which two roosters specifically bred for aggressiveness are placed beak to beak in a small ring and encouraged to fight to the death—has been around for centuries. Roosters were first bred for fighting in Southeast Asia more than 3,000 years ago, and cockfighting later spread to Greece, Rome and Britain before crossing the Atlantic about 200 years ago. The brutal “sport" found popularity in North, South and Central Americas, and was particularly prevalent in Colonial New York, Philadelphia and Boston. By the 1800s, it had spread to the South and West Coast—but by this time, people had begun to realize how cruel it was, and many states banned it. Today, cockfighting is a crime in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Yet, despite these laws, cockfighting still persists.