Cockfighting and dogfighting are blood sports that cause deliberate severe suffering. Despite being illegal in most Western countries, they continue globally and require sustained advocacy to eliminate.
Cockfighting and dogfighting cause extreme, deliberate suffering for entertainment and gambling. Animals bred and trained for fighting endure not only the fight itself but often lives of poor welfare including inadequate housing, poor nutrition, and forced conditioning. Fights frequently end in severe injury or death. The criminalisation of these blood sports in most developed countries reflects broad societal recognition of the unacceptable welfare harm they cause. Where they remain legal, cultural arguments are used to defend practices that involve suffering no welfare principle can justify. Coordinated international advocacy, law enforcement cooperation, and community engagement are the primary tools for elimination.