Editing Cockfighting (section)

{{Short description|Blood sport between domesticated roosters}}
{{redirect-multi|2|Fighting cock|Gamecock}}
{{more citations needed|date=May 2024}}
[[File:Microcosm of London Plate 018 - Royal Cock Pit (colour).jpg|thumb|Cockfight in London, c.&nbsp;1808]]
[[File:Zoffani, Johann - Colonel Mordaunt's Cock Match - 1784-86.jpg|thumb|Colonel [[Colonel Mordaunt's Cock Match|Mordaunt]]'s cockfight in [[Lucknow]], 1784–1786, by [[Johann Zoffany]]]]
[[File:Cockfighting Pavilion, Pura Taman Ayun 1490.jpg|thumb|The [[wantilan]], a Balinese cockfighting pavilion, and important temple ritual]]
'''Cockfighting''' is a [[blood sport]] involving domesticated [[roosters]] as the combatants. The first documented use of the word '''gamecock''', denoting use of the cock as to a "[[game]]", a [[sport]], [[pastime]] or [[entertainment]], was recorded in 1634,<ref>{{cite dictionary|url=http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gamecock |title=gamecock |quote=First Known Use: 1634|dictionary=[[Merriam-Webster]] |date=2012-08-31 |access-date=2014-05-10}}</ref> after the term "'''cock of the game'''" used by George Wilson, in the earliest known book on the sport of cockfighting in ''The Commendation of Cocks and Cock Fighting'' in 1607. But it was during [[Ferdinand Magellan]]'s [[Magellan's circumnavigation|voyage of discovery]] of the [[Philippines]] in 1521 when modern cockfighting was first witnessed and documented for Westerners by the Italian [[Antonio Pigafetta]], Magellan's chronicler, in the Kingdom of [[Taytay, Palawan|Taytay]].

The gamecocks (not to be confused with [[game bird]]s) are specially [[Breed|bred]] and conditioned for increased stamina and strength. Male and female [[chicken]]s of such a [[breed]] are referred to as '''gamefowl'''.{{citation needed|date=May 2024}} Cocks are also bred to be aggressive towards other males of their [[species]].{{citation needed|date=May 2024}} Wagers are often made on the outcome of the match, held in a ring called a '''cockpit'''.

Cockfighting is a blood sport due in some part to the [[Injury|physical trauma]] the cocks inflict on each other, which is sometimes increased by attaching metal spurs to the cocks' [[Spur (zoology)#In birds|natural spurs]]. While not all fights are to the death, the cocks may endure significant physical trauma. In some areas around the world, cockfighting is still practiced as a mainstream event; in some countries it is regulated by law, or forbidden outright.<ref>{{cite news|author=Raymond Hernandez |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/04/11/nyregion/blood-sport-gets-blood-fans-cockfighting-don-t-understand-its-outlaw-status.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm |title=A Blood Sport Gets in the Blood; Fans of Cockfighting Don't Understand Its Outlaw Status |work=The New York Times |location=New York City Metropolitan Area |date=1995-04-11 |access-date=2014-05-10}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://ksfa860.com/east-east-texas-lawmaker-wants-to-outlaw-cockfighting/ |title=East Texas Lawmaker Wants to Outlaw Cockfighting |author=Jim Bell|publisher=[[KSFA 860 AM]] NewsTalk|date= February 24, 2011|access-date=May 24, 2017}}</ref>

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