‘In Otavalo, in Equador, there is a cock-fighting competition every Saturday, which attracts the ‘galleros’ (cockerels) from provinces from all over the country. The rules and fight rituals are rigorously defined and date back to the colonial period. The cockerels are weighed and then taken to a room where these ´galleros’ challenge each other to fight. After choosing the contenders, the cockerels are prepared for combat, where an artificial gaff made if tortoise shell is tied to them. The combats have a duration of 10 minutes and 12 seconds. If one of the cockerels wins the fight (that is makes it impossible for the other cockerel to continue fighting after a count of 10 seconds or ‘kills’ him) during the first 12 seconds, the prize can go up to as much as 1,000 dollars. After the first 12 seconds, the prize for the winning ‘gallero’ varies, depending on the category of the cockerels. But the money involved is not just for the prizes of the winners. Before the fights begin, the fight is to buy the best seat as close as possible to the cockpit, which costs about 30 dollars. Then, it’s the bets. The fights start at three in the afternoon and go on until two in the morning. As the time passes, the tempers on the benches increase, with the bets getting higher and higher. On a fight day, one can win or lose a lot of money, in a country where the majority of the population live in extremely precarious economic conditions. The discussions about cock-fighting in Ecuador have been profound. The arguments of those for and against the fights are more or less the same as the ones in Portugal in relation to bull-fighting. On the one side, the opposition defend that it is an activity that violates the most basic animal right, as the animals in question are turned into instruments and victims of a true massacre, which ultimately leads to the profits of the organisers, the ‘galleros’ and the gambler. Those who defend the fights talk about traditions and the natural fighting characteristics of the cockerels. Tiago Lopes Fernandez