quote:
Because a dog bred to assist in bringing down bulls in ancient Rome is the same as a chicken with a razor cuffed to its leg. Bulldogs got their name from the blood sport of bull baiting, where multiple dogs were sent to attack a tethered or confined bull. Bull-baiting was popular in England from the 1500s to 1835 when it was finally outlawed. I'm not sure where you got that ancient Rome and "assisting" nonsense, unless you are thinking about ancient Molossers, which were used in similar baiting blood sports. Both mascots have a past history in blood sports, and both still show some of that history in their imagery. For example, USC's logo has spurs, UGA's bulldog logo has a spiked collar, these were originally used to deter other dogs/animals from biting the dogs neck in a fight.

i believe he may have been referring to the pugnaces britanniae, which was a large breed in ancient Britain (war and hunting dog) that was descended from asiatic mastiffs. They were indeed imported into rome and used in the Colosseum to fight bears, tigers, bulls, gladiators, etc... but they were not bred for that purpose. They were considered more formidable than the greek Molossus. The closest living descendent dog is probably the english mastiff, although the pugnaces britanniae would have been more athletic and less docile. This dog probably contributed some dna to the original bulldogs, now referred to as the olde english bulldog to differentiate from the modern dog. they were indeed specifically bred for the blood sport of bull baiting (although the bull was not killed, the dogs often were). Those bulldogs died out in england after blood sports were banned in 1835. Some were taken to the US by immigrants and put to work as farm dogs. The modern english bulldog is a cross between the original bulldog and a pug. The various types of pitbulls are the result of crossing the old bulldogs with terriers to add agility, quickness, and gameness.

This post was edited on 8/14/13 at 11:25 am