TWO COCKS PLUCKING EACH OTHER

Last summer, while I was basking in the socialist crapulence of Cuba, I got stuck in a town called Trinidad for ten days while my friend puked a bunch. We were staying with a guy called Sergio, a Mafioso ladies' man who wore an all white suit with a nylon snakeskin shirt and white loafers with golden dragons embroidered on the front. Despite being a vegetarian, I wanted to see a cock-fight in Cuba, but because it's illegal there, I'd been sheepish about asking people. I was pretty comfortable with Sergio though, so as soon as I heard him mention his cock, I asked if we could come along.

There was some reservation about bringing my friend's camera. Hardly anyone has any technical equipment there that isn't really old--so a big, flashy, digital SLR attracts a lot of attention. But we managed to convince him.

This is Sergio's opposition binding their cock's feet before the fight. They wrap each claw in rope and hold it in place with melted wax to make a kind of boxing glove.

This is the wire pen, which is built specially for cockfighting. Although it's illegal, the government doesn't really make a fuss. This pen was sort of hidden--in so much as it was in a locked garden that we had to walk out of Trinidad to get to.

It's hard to see how much blood shed there was in these photos, because the pen is made of red brick so it blends in (and there's a fair bit of shadow as well).

That's me on the left peering in, trying to get a better look. The guy with the cowboy hat stayed in the pen to referee, but he didn't get involved very much. There was lots of cheering and shouting like Dads at a little league game and the owners didn't even have to psyche up the cocks beforehand--turns out if you put two of the same sex in the same space, they peck each other apart.

It can be a battle until death, but in this instance it was until one cock lay down on the ground and wouldn't get up. Here are the loving owners checking to see what damage had been done when the fight was over.

The fight generally involves one cock trying to pluck feathers from the other one with its beak or clawing their opponent's face, which is usually the target. They are literally dripping with blood by the end, and they are pretty much bald all around their heads.

Here's Sergio with his victorious cock, feeling very proud. The cock had been blinded in the last third of the game, but he still ended up winning. He managed to get a claw into his opposition's neck and hold him down while trampling on him. Good tactics.

WORDS: EMILY FOISTER
PHOTOS: ANNEKA LANGE