Oddly enough, searching for more information on slaughterhouses – I discovered this little nugget of history in New Orleans: A Pictorial History by Leonard V. Huber.
“Fights involving bulls, bears, tigers, and dogs were held in New Orleans as early as 1817. This fight between a large slate-colored bull called Napoleon IV and a four-hundred-pound grizzly bear took place before a frenzied crowd in 1853. The bull threw the bear several times and the bear chewed the bull’s head, but after a while the bear retired to his corner and refused to fight.”
