Weight control: coks are professionals...
...Mungos and snakes amateurs: you can watch them fight in some cockefight arenas as part of the show - the snake mostly looses.

“Cockfights have been part of our cultural heritage for five centuries. This tradition has to be preserved!” Belair demands. Her father ran a cockfight arena (‘pit’) in Guadeloupe which she took over. She also opened a museum later on. She watches over her own 30 gamecocks like a mother hen. Mind you, each one of them is worth up to 2,000 Euros! And at the tournaments, there’s quite a bit of money at stake: among pros it’s a matter of honour to bet 200 or 300 Euros on your own rooster. If you don’t keep your animals absolutely fit, you’re likely to be badly picked on.

“20 minutes of training a day are obligatory”, the breeder explains. “Thigh work, wing flapping, balancing on a cord – we’re talking high-performance athletes here. And spoilt ones as well: the menu includes delicacies like honey-soaked rice, fresh tuna, bananas and tomatoes.

Not a bad life for the feathered fighters, especially since the tournaments are no longer the mortal massacres they used to be. Only birds of exactly the same weight are allowed to compete. And as soon as one of the gamecocks goes down for more than 21 seconds, the fight is over.

Belair is not backing down in her fight against illegality, that’s for sure. She has already won a first stage victory. Of the approximately 20 pits in Guadeloupe, her arena is the first one that has been officially recognized: brochures advertising the Friday cock tournaments are already available at the Pointe-à-Pitre tourist office…

Dolorès Belair with gamecock: if you don’t keep your animals absolutely fit, you’re likely to be badly picked on…

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