When I was invited to go to the cock fighting with some locals in Thailand, it was a tough decision to make. From a photographic point of view, this was a rare opportunity to photograph what is said to be the world's oldest spectator sport, which is illegal in many parts of the world. On the other hand, the cocks fight until ultimately one of them dies or is critically injured, which as a vegetarian with strong opinions on animal rights and welfare, I knew I would find it very difficult to watch. Putting my personal beliefs aside, I tried to stay objective as I captured it through the lens. The day began with hundreds of owners gathering, to compare and weigh their roosters, and find good fighting pairs amongst the potential candidates. After the selections were made, the cocks that were not selected went back to their cages. The selected animals waited their turn to be put in the ring against their pre-selected opponent to fight, with more than 30 fights arranged. Official bets were placed through the stadium before the fighting began. Once the fighting was in motion, the stadium was alive with noise from the seats, as people frantically placed 'unofficial' bets against one another. A lot of money appeared to be changing hands amongst the noisy exclamations and gestures as people leapt to their feet in order to see the fight better. It was explained to me that the animals would fight until one died or ran away, however, I later discovered that many of the bodies that got carried away were not actually dead. When I went out the back exit of the stadium, the owners were gathered around the bleeding bodies of their prize cocks, stitching up the wounds. The 'fight to the death' rule is not enforced in Thai cock fighting, which creates a make-shift chicken hospital in the dirt, where needles are sterilized in boiling water, and teams of people stitch up the wounded animals.
