Cock Fights
Why in news :
- Recently, the Andhra Pradesh police have intensified the crackdown on rooster farms, cockfight organizers ahead of the Sankranti Festival.
- The police also warned that “cases will be registered against the accused under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960, section 9 (1) of Gaming Act, Arms Act, 1959 and other charges against cockfight organizers and gamblers.”
Cockfights :
- A cockfight is a blood sport, held in a ring called a cockpit.
- The history of this sport dates back to 6,000 years.
- Cockfighting is a blood sport because of the physical trauma the cocks inflict on each other, which is sometimes increased by attaching metal spurs to the cocks’ natural spurs.
- The Supreme Court of India proclaimed that the practice to be in direct violation of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act 1960.
- Cockfights are currently common in the southern Indian states of Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka despite a countrywide ban imposed in 1960.
- It is a regional spectacle primarily taking place in January, coinciding with harvest festival celebrations.
- Like Jallikattu, Cock fighting an ancient spectator sport is mentioned in Sangam literature.
Steps taken to prevent the sport :
- Various government agencies and Ministry of Animal Husbandry are conducting awareness programs in villages to prevent rooster fights.
- To prevent the youth from participating in cockfights and other prohibited games, various sports like Kabaddi, Kho-Kho, Volley ball, Rangoli are planned.
Syllabus : Prelims; various sports in news and laws related to them
