bull baiting????

[bradley300]

just wondering, when i started reading up on dogs, i noticed many dogs where bred for this before it was banned. just wondering, what exactly is it? whats the purpose? obviously, its not something i want to do,lol just curious about it since there seemed to be a fair amount of animals that were once bred for it

[Crossfire Bulldogs]

Because of their courage and apparent capacity to endure pain, Bulldogs were shamelessly exploited for many years in the sports of bull baiting, bear baiting and dog fighting. Bull baiting was made illegal in England in 1835 and eventually dog fighting of all kinds was prohibited, resulting in a steady decline in the breed.

Happily enough, the beginning of the dog-show era in 1859 saved this fine old breed. Because of the interest and untiring efforts of a small group of sincere experienced fanciers, this small number of bulldogs served as a nucleus for the dogs of today. Fortunately, this group of fanciers was determined to preserve the fine characteristics and just as determined to eliminate all fighting and viciousness.

Bullbaiting or Bearbaiting: The setting of dogs on a bear or a bull chained to a stake by the neck or leg. Popular from the 12th to the 19th century, when they were banned as inhumane, these spectacles were usually staged at theatre-like arenas known as bear gardens.

[Novel]

Bull Baiting ~

Bull-baiting was a popular amusement, particularly in 17th and 18th-century England, in which trained bulldogs attacked a tethered bull. In Queen Anne's time it was performed in London at Hockley Hole, regularly twice a week, and there was scarce a provincial town to which it did not extend. At Stamford and at Tutbury, from a very early period, a maddened bull was annually hunted through the streets.

Before the event started, the bull's nose was usually blown full of pepper to enrage the animal before the baiting. The bull was often allowed a hole in the ground, into which to thrust his vulnerable nose and lips. A variant of bull-baiting was "pinning the bull"; specially-trained dogs would be set upon the bull one at a time, a successful attack resulting in the dog fastening his teeth strongly in the bull's snout.

Together with other animal blood sports such as bear-baiting, cockfighting, and dogfighting, this amusement was prohibited in Britain by an act of Parliament in 1835.

From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bull-baiting



Also, another great article about Bulldogs and their history. http://www.bulldoginformation.com/bull-baiting.html