Australian Man caught cheating at Filipino Cockfight by Using Cassowary
Cebu City, February 6th, 2018. In an unprecedented scandal, a certain Peter S. Foregrass of Inisfall, Queensland, was charged with using a Cassowary instead of a rooster in a traditional Filipino cockfight. The cock fight, or “sabong”, is a highly popular form of entertainment all over the island nation. Two roosters (“manok”) square off in a cock-pit, with blades tied to their ankles, and engage in deadly combat. The natural instincts of the rosters take over, and they attempt to jump on top of each other and defeat the enemy. The blades attached to the birds make this avian territorial behavior turn deadly. Cock fights are happening in virtually every town or city in the Philippines every weekend, and set the stage for betting, drinking and socializing of all social classes.
Now it seems that not all “sabong” in the Cebu City/Mactan area in late 2017/early 2018 were contested under fair conditions.
“I thought his manok was big, oi, maybe too big” said Ernie Romblon, the treasurer and spokesperson of the Cebu City/Mactan cockfighting association (CMCA). Only after the Cassowary “Mathilda” had gone undefeated in 74 matches did suspicions rise to a level that the CMCA contacted an ornithologist who clarified the identity of the massive “rooster”.
The eagerness to believe in a so-called “super hybrid rooster breed” (which according to Foregrass his bird was), paired with the intention of soon obtaining such a bird themselves might have psychologically blinded many cock fight aficionados to the fact that it was not a chicken competing on those infamously hot afternoons in Cebu City during the final weeks of last year.
The Cassowary is the largest bird living on the Australian continent and can grow up to 2 meters in height and 55 kilograms in weight. Blows struck with its extremely powerful clawed feet have inflicted serious injuries to humans hiking through its tropical rain forest habitat.
The Cassowary is an endangered species, and exporting living Cassowaries is prohibited by Australian national law. It is unclear how Mr. Foregrass managed to get such a bird to his residence in Cebu City. Mr. Foregrass declined to comment for this story. Since this is the first ever instance of a Cassowary illegally competing in a cock fight, the legal situation and any potential penalties are also unclear.
