Historical Bull Baiting

In the early thirteenth century, sometime during the Middle Ages, an activity known as “bull baiting” became very popular. This was considered to be a sport that supposedly united different classes of people. The reason why is because everyone in England, regardless of social stature, engaged in this activity without discrimination.

These were contests held in many different open areas when dogs and bulls were expected to fight. The objective of the dog owner is to have its dog cling its jaws to the bull until the bull succumbs to it. Actually, bulls were the most popular opponents for these dogs but other animals were trained for this task as well. Sometimes bears, horses, or other big and strong animals were used. Truly, it was very cruel for all the animals used in this activity. However, those who engaged in it saw it as a legitimate sport and gained much entertainment from it. The contests did not stop there. Soon enough the people started betting on these contests and large amounts of money were exchanged everyday because of this activity.

For these matches, the bulldogs were bred and it evolved to be a breed perfect for the task of bull baiting. There were trained especially to know that their main objective in a match is to “cling” its jaws to the opponent’s snout and hold it there until it gives up. The bulls were usually fastened with a belt that held up a piece of wood that would distract them and force them to go wild. This would make it more difficult for the dog to hold on. However, the bulldogs were trained and highly evolved that they were able to endure even the worst and wildest of bull tossings.

These contests were usually held in public arenas, which were often circular in architecture. These arenas staged the bull baiting session in its center while the audience were in a relatively safe distance surrounding it. Outside the arena, the kennels of the bulldogs were usually found. As they were known to be ferocious, they were locked up when there were no fights and kept far away from the public’s access.

This was such a big part of each town that they even had parades for each coming contest. Each time a bull was trained enough for this activity; it would be decorated and paraded around the town. The dog which has the most number of wins would take part in this parade. Every time this happened, townspeople waited in the streets and cheered the highly regarded dog. Most of the people would follow them until the time they came back to the arena where they would be ready for another bull baiting match.

Many years passed before this activity had been banned. It became unlawful to host contests that displayed cruelty to animals. For this reason, the original bulldogs that came from the breed of Mastiffs declined in number and they were interbred with other types yielding many different breeds including the Boxer and the Bulldog.

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