History Main / BeastlyBloodsports

* In ''The Littlest Hobo'' (the original 1958 film not [[Series/TheLittlestHobo the Canadian series based on it]]) the title dog gets caught up in the dogfighting circuit for a short period.

* In ''The Littlest Hobo'' (the original 1958 film not the Canadian series based on it) the title dog gets caught up in the dogfighting circuit for a short period.

* [[GeorgeRRMartin George R. R. Martin]]'s [[TufVoyaging Haviland Tuf]] short story "A Beast for Norn". The twelve Great Houses of the planet Lyronica use creatures native to their planet as combatants in gaming pits. Tuf disapproves of this cruelty to animals, so he sells each of the Houses an alien creature that annihilates the other Houses' creature in combat. He charges an ever-increasing outrageous fee for each creature, makes sure that each one has a serious side effect that will make it useless, and gives each House an extra creature that devastates its ecosystem. As a result, all of the Houses end up going bankrupt.

* Mentioned in ''Assassin of {{Gor}}'': an arena where GladiatorGames are held is also used for animal-vs-animal fights. Sometimes it's even flooded and aquatic animals are pitted against one another.

* ''[[Series/AnimalPlanetHeroes Animal Precinct]]'' and other animal rescue shows often have animal cruelty agents busting up dog-fighting rings. Fighting dogs often have to be euthanized because they are too dangerous to be rehabilitated and put up for adoption, and some of the worst cruelty cases these investigators have to take on involve "bait dogs," which are dogs used as bait and "practice" for fighting dogs.
* ''{{Bones}}'': A VictimOfTheWeek is a veteranarian who is trying to shut down a dogfighting ring.
* ''{{CSI}}'' did a VerySpecialEpisode involving dogfighting...'Lying Down With Dogs', where a wealthy humanitarian was found dead and then found to be involved in dogfighting.
* ''{{Friends}}'': When Ross was looking for zoos to take his monkey Marcel, one of the prospects asks how good Marcel is with a knife, and it quickly becomes apparent that he's running some sort of animal fighting park.
* ''BeingHuman'': Vampires in this universe take the traditional dog fight and [[UpToEleven crank it up a notch]]. The result? [[OurWerewolvesAreDifferent Werewolf fights]].

* ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' is a notable aversion -- [[AlternativeCharacterInterpretation or at least]] [[FridgeHorror avoidance]] -- of the idea that animal fighting is always despicable, but then again, they are MixAndMatchCritters and other fantasy animals, not real ones.
** While Pokemon may be encouraged to fight each other, in other respects trainers are obliged to [[VideoGameCaringPotential take good care of them.]]

* The town of Toroledo in ''{{Alundra 2}}'' has a bullfighting ring as a Betting Minigame. The twist is that the fights are bull vs bull rather than bull vs matador.

[[AC: {{FanFic}}]]

* Many of ErnestHemingway's works deal with bullfighting, including ''The Dangerous Summer'', ''Death in the Afternoon'' and ''Literature/TheSunAlsoRises''.

* TomLehrer's "In Old Mexico" is primarily about a bullfight.

* Cockfighting plays a major role in the ''BoldVenture'' episode "Death By A Fighting Bird", where a gamecock is used as an AnimalAssassin.

* In ''{{Thief}}'' you can eavesdrop on a conversation between two guards discussing bear fighting; one will lament that he remembers fighting bears being more savage when he was younger, and the pit owners didn't need to give the bears paw hooks or razer collars to keep the fights interesting.

* In ''The Cross Time Engineer'', one of Conrad Stargard's first controversial acts is to euthanize a bear that's being used for bear-baiting.

Nobody thinks animal bloodsports are boring. They're sure to get the blood pumping, [[YourMileageMayVary although whether that's from the excitement of watching the fight or outrage at seeing such cruelty depends on the observer.]] Animal Bloodsports come in two varieties: animal versus animal, and animal versus human.

* ''{{Pokemon}}'' is a notable aversion -- [[AlternativeCharacterInterpretation or at least]] [[FridgeHorror avoidance]] -- of the idea that animal fighting is always despicable, but then again, they are MixAndMatchCritters and other fantasy animals, not real ones.

[[caption-width-right:329:''Bear Baiting'', 1795 (from ''The Sporting magazine'', London)]]

* HughLofting's novel ''The Voyages of DoctorDolittle''. While in the Capa Blanca Islands, Doctor Dolittle makes a wager with a powerful nobleman that the noble will end bullfighting in the islands if the Doctor can perform more tricks with a bull than any of the local matadors. He then [[TheDoctorDolittle talks to the bulls]] and convinces them to help him put on a show so that they won't have to die in the bullring any more.
* Horse fights are a popular entertainment in the world of the IcelandicSagas, and will always become the catalyzer of a quarrel or feud. A prominent example occurs in ''Njal's Saga''.

* ''DragonQuestVIII'' has Mori's Monsterous Pit, where the player is given a starter set and is tasked with finding and recruiting stronger ones to battle in the arena.

* TomLehrer's "In Old Mexico" is primarly about a bullfight.

* Many of ErnestHemingway's works deal with bullfighting, including ''The Dangerous Summer'', ''Death in the Afternoon'' and ''the Sun Also Rises''.

* ''AnimalPrecinct'' and other animal rescue shows often have animal cruelty agents busting up dog-fighting rings. Fighting dogs often have to be euthanized because they are too dangerous to be rehabilitated and put up for adoption, and some of the worst cruelty cases these investigators have to take on involve "bait dogs," which are dogs used as bait and "practice" for fighting dogs.

Regardless of the type, Animal Bloodsports are usually -- but far from unanimously -- regarded as repellent. [[KickTheDog Dogfighters are regarded as scum.]] Cockfighters may get off a little easier, but are still unsavory. Animal bloodspots may also serve as a sign of the unpleasant aspects of bygone times, with MedievalMorons enjoying the cruel spectacle without modern qualms. As for when humans are involved, bullfighters -- perhaps because they put themselves at risk (although [[{{Understatement}} not as much as the bull]]), rather than just having the animals fight it out -- may be a little better. Some Spaniards in RealLife are defensive about bullfighting, especially against foreign critics, as a [[MyCountryRightOrWrong distinctive part of their culture which foreigners don't get]], although [[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/spain/7921494/Majority-of-Spaniards-dislike-bullfighting-but-do-not-want-it-banned.html a majority of Spaniards dislike bullfighting.]]

* This is one of the fates in store for many of the poached creatures during the Poaching Arc of FanFic/TheTaintedGrimoire.

[[AC:RealLife]]
* Real-life GladiatorGames in ancient Rome had this trope on mornings (both animals pitted against each other or lightly-armed fighters against animals), executions (including FedToTheBeast) at noon while most people had left the circus for lunch, and gladiator combat in the afternoon.

* ''{{Pokemon}}'' is a notable aversion -- [[AlternativeCharacterInterpretation or at least]] [[FridgeHorror avoidance]] -- of the idea that animal fighting is always dispicable, but then again, they are MixAndMatchCritters and other fantasy animals, not real ones.

* [[GeorgeRRMartin George R. R. Martin]]'s Haviland Tuf short story "A Beast for Norn". The twelve Great Houses of the planet Lyronica use creatures native to their planet as combatants in gaming pits. Tuf disapproves of this cruelty to animals, so he sells each of the Houses an alien creature that annihilates the other Houses' creature in combat. He charges an ever-increasing outrageous fee for each creature, makes sure that each one has a serious side effect that will make it useless, and gives each House an extra creature that devastates its ecosystem. As a result, all of the Houses end up going bankrupt.

* A ''{{House}}'' episode involves a patient who [[LaserGuidedKarma catches psittacosis thanks to his involvement in a cockfighting ring]].

* ''DragonQuest 8'' has Mori's Monsterous Pit, where the player is given a starter set and is tasked with finding and recruiting stronger ones to battle in the arena.