Cheers erupt at each killing blow in an arena facing extinction after a landmark court ruling
O
n the outskirts of Cartagena – far from the brightly coloured facades of the old city and the 500-year-old fortress walls overlooking the Caribbean – a crowd of about 300 people erupted into a roar. Given Colombians’ passion for football, it could have been the celebration of a goal.
But the cheers followed the bloody climax of bout in a cockfighting ring whose white padded walls were now splattered with blood.
As the mostly male bettors clinked cold drinks from ice buckets and collected their winnings, handlers carried off the body of the defeated bird, while a worker quickly swept up feathers and wiped away blood, preparing the ring for the next of what would be more than 100 fights that evening.
