As noted yesterday, a video of Pedro Martinez and Hall of Famer Juan Marichal taking part in a cockfight in the Dominican Republic was posted and then quickly taken off of YouTube on Wed.

PETA assistant director Dan Shannon issued a letter to Martinez, which called for him to ‘publicly apologize to fans’ for participating in such a ‘cruel and barbaric activity.’

Cockfighting is legal in the Dominican Republic.

Martinez issued the following statement late yesterday…

“I understand that people are upset.  This is part of our Dominican culture and is legal in the Dominican Republic.  I was invited by my idol Juan Marichal to attend the event as a spectator, not as a participant.”

…of course, according to the video, martinez tossed the chicken in to the ring and cheered him on…which is what PETA is probably all hot about, i would think…if this isn’t ‘participating,’ what is…

The Mets issued a statement as well, which read…

“We do not condone any behavior that involves cruelty to animals.  We understand, however, that in many other countries, activities such as bullfighting and cockfighting are both legal and part of the culture.”

…what’s interesting is that the Mets nor martinez issued any sort of apology in either of those statements, as PETA requested…instead, they went the cultural relevatism route…

…frankly, the Mets and Pedro Martinez should have issued a second statement thanking Roger Clemens, whose face is plastered on the back pages instead of martinez’s and a rooster…

For more, check out the Daily News, as well as Tim Marchman in the New York Sun, who does a great job of comparing different types of outrage to stories such as these.

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