Stop the Horror of Horse Fighting

Goaded into a frenzy by a mare who is 'in season' and chained nearby for up to six hours, stallions battle for 'sport' in the Philippines. "These tournaments are truly barbaric," says Andrew Plumbly of the welfare group Network for Animals, which has been campaigning to bring an end to the savage contests.

"Our vets have seen horses being kicked in the head… It's straight out of the Middle Ages." Horse-fighting occurs almost exclusively in Mindanao in the southern Philippines, and in parts of China.

The horrific tournament captured in the photograph happened in the town of Don Carlos and involved 54 horses, many of which had gruesome injuries.Thousands of people turned out to watch, including hundreds of children. Many of the adults were drunk and spent their time gambling and jeering at the battling animals.

Though horses do not normally fight one another, these stallions had been whipped into a fighting frenzy by the presence of a young mare who was "in season" and had been tied to the ground in the middle of the muddy arena.

Overwhelmed by desire, the stallions attacked each other in a bid to defeat their sexual rivals.

Many were soon covered in wounds and bites. Others limped around the arena with a glazed look in their eyes as they pathetically tried to escape.

"Horses often die in the ring from exhaustion or their injuries," says Mr Plumbly, who has witnessed one such tournament. Veterinary care is too expensive for most owners to bother with, so wounded horses are often killed for their meat and sold to the crowd. A similar fate awaits those horses deemed too old or too weak to fight. 

Although horse-fighting is illegal in the Philippines, corruption and lack of enforcement ensure that the tournaments continue - and with apparent official sanction.

Matches are featured on TV, and local businesses sponsor horses and tournaments. Local authorities offer prize money. The tournaments are promoted as a "cultural tradition", but in fact they are largely organised and controlled by crime syndicates, who rake in huge profits from gambling. Thousands of pounds are bet on each fight - a small fortune in a desperately poor country such as the Philippines.

Network for Animals wants to build clinics to treat injured horses and to educate local people about caring for animals. It is also encouraging tourists to avoid the southern Philippines.

"If people want to help stop these tournaments they should write to the embassy in London and tell them that they will not visit these islands," says Mr Plumbly.

"The threat of a loss of tourism money will help bring this despicable blood sport to an end."

For more information on NFA campaigns and how you can help, visit www.networkforanimals.org.