Last week, when Pedro Martinez of the New York Mets was caught participating in a cockfight in his native Dominican Republic, it raised concerns all across animal-loving America. The question arose: who are the professional athletes involved in the gauche and grotesque world of competitive animal fighting and why are they doing it? The consensus in America is overwhelming on the issue: animal fighting is as immoral as pedophilia and murder. Unfortunately for many professional athletes, the tantalizing world of cockfighting and dog fighting is a spectacle as addictive as coca leaves. Machochip editor Alejandro De La Cruz takes a look at the athletes who cannot resist its siren call.

My initial question when I heard of Pedro Martinez’s involvement in a cockfighting match in the Dominican Republic last week was simple: why would he endanger his already crippled post-Don Zimmer pummeling reputation? And, shouldn’t he be bonding with Johan Santana in New York? Unlike in this country, (all 50 United States will have outlawed cockfighting by the end of this summer), the Dominican Republic embraces cockfighting as a national pastime, a cultural staple and a tradition. So it’s plausible Pedro never considered an irate group of animal activists would be waiting to use their talons on him once the news surfaced that he was meddling with cockfight enthusiasts in the Dominican Republic.

Initially, Pedro’s incident drew minimal attention. Fortunately for him, a YouTube video depicting the scene of Pedro at a cockfighting match was removed from the site, but less than 24 hours later, Gawker had disclosed the video once again to a public that was eager to shout it’s disapproval.

The objections were immediate, though some people exclaimed that the incident was harmless due to Pedro Martinez’s involvement in a legally sanctioned cockfight: most likely because they were cockfight enthusiasts as well. Ever meet a Vegetarian hunter? Neither have I. As one our our own commenters pointed out:

Listen….this shit0talking (sic) about Pedro is another fucking stunt to get our minds off whats (sic) really going on …and of course it had to be minority in this case Pedro The Great.. Get off the dick… Rooster fighting is a legal sport in the the (sic) DR and PETA has absolutely nothing to do with the DR because its ina (sic) completele (sic) different country and jurisdiction…

But an American baseball team markets his image, signs his paychecks and sponsors his visa. So, let’s be real. They need to have a nice, glossy image for the American fans, or else.

Others thought Pedro Martinez’s actions were out of line.

Cultural??? Legal in that country??? Didn’t defenders of the Taliban use the same arguments? It’s wrong to torture animals for entertainment. Self evident, if you ask me.

It isn’t the first time cockfighting has reared its feisty head in baseball. Carlos Delgado, another New York Mets’ player, was captured in a documentary glorifying the sport.

No one made a fuss, life went on and he’s relished in a wonderful career as a baseball player. The reason: the cockfighting occurred outside of America.

But, after Michael Vick’s humiliating admission to financing a dog fighting ring—and the overwhelming opposition to it by a strong majority of animal rights advocates—you would assume that not only Martinez, but all athletes who participate in illegal animal-involved fighting, would use better judgment. Who doesn’t know that Americans are obsessed with their pets? Let’s put it this way: America created Freegans. You know, Vegans who’d rather dig through garbage for food rather than ingest animal meat. If that’s the perennial trend, then why are pro athletes so oblivious?

And cockfighting in MLB goes beyond Pedro Martinez and Carlos Delgado. According to a New York Times article, Chicago Cubs’ player Amaris Ramirez is a dedicated cockfighting enthusiast:

Aramis Ramírez is prominently featured in a recent issue of a Dominican cockfighting magazine, En La Traba, in which he is pictured with several roosters that he raises for fighting. Of roosters, he said in the magazine, “When I’m in the Dominican Republic, I’m dedicated entirely to them.”

Professional athletes must have an overdriven appetite for competition. Is it that difficult to abstain from aggressive behavior off the field?

Beyond baseball, boxing’s Roy Jones Jr. has been an avid rooster breeder for years:

In a 2003 interview with Esquire, Jones indicated that he prepares roosters to engage in cockfighting, which is a felony in 49 states, including Florida. Jones also owns a cockfighting ring in Louisiana, where attendees bet on staged fights between roosters, according to the Humane Society. Louisiana is the last state to allow legal cockfighting, but a law banning the sport will take effect in August 2008.

Interesting that he’s a boxer. If he’s lusting for blood that much, why not just go baby seal hunting? I hear the mercilessness of beating them to death until their blood splats everywhere is delectable.

Before Michael Vick’s notorious dog fighting scandal broke, LeShon Johnson (NFL running back who played for the Green Bay Packers, Arizona Cardinals and New York Giants) was a dog-fighting breeder in Oklahoma. On December 20, 2005, Johnson plead guilty to 3 counts of dog fighting related crimes and received a 5 year deferred sentence on the grounds that he part with his dogs and distance himself from the world of dog fighting. LeShon Johnson was hardly a Grade-A caliber player, but the satisfaction of playing in the most important professional football league in the world should have sparked better judgment. At a $285,000 league minimum salary for people with zero years of experience, the allure of dog fighting should be repressed. But it never is. In fact, most athletes turn to the sport for financial gain.

It’s what makes the Michael Vick case so unique. Vick’s staggering salary placed him in a category of supremacy. Yet, his $130 million, 10-year deal inspired invincibility instead of sensibility, leading Michael to finance, kill, torture, and fight countless animals over the years.

Earlier this decade, Ex-Dallas Cowboys star Nate Newton was arrested in Texas for attending a dog fighting match. PETA cites an incident with Tyrone Wheatley of the Oakland Raiders, in which he once stated:

In the world of pit-bull fighting, one pit bull doesn’t give a shit if the other pit bull is a two-time winner. All he knows is, We’re going to fight, and I’m going [to] kick your ass if it takes all day.”

He went on to call the sport “motivational” and “inspirational” in a powerful sermon that sounded like he was preaching for desegregation. And athletes keep forging forward, entangling their reputations in the pits of these controversial traditions.

It may be arrogance that drives them. It may simply be the money. It may be an aforementioned competitive drive that’s never quenched. If Michael Vick were dog fighting in the suburbs of Buenos Aires, where dog fighting is neither legal nor illegal, would his career continue to flourish? Not in this country. In this country we revere our pets as members of the family; we glorify their domestication; we salute their perfection. A beagle named “Uno” became the first Beagle to win the Westminster Dog Show in its 132 year history. A country that keeps tabs on that is a country that doesn’t mince words about animal cruelty.

Pedro Martinez enjoys cockfights [Machochip]
The Pedro Martinez cockfighting Video [Gawker]
Roy Jones: I let my dogs fight [Daily News]
Dominicans say cockfighting is in their blood [NYTimes]
PETA, Tyrone Wheatley [PETA]

Image 1 [Machochip]
Image 2 [Machochip]
Image 3 [La Traba]
Image 4 [Daily News]
Image 5 [PETA]