Westminster Pit
Coordinates: 51°29′50″N 0°08′00″W / 51.4971°N 0.1333°W
The Westminster Pit was a well-known blood sport arena in nineteenth-century London, England. It reached a zenith of popularity between 1820 and 1830, and hosted such spectacles as dog-fighting, cock-fighting, bear-baiting, badger-baiting, monkey-baiting, and rat-baiting. A legal enterprise at the time, the Westminster Pit openly declared its activities, ushering notoriety on the district in which it existed.
The Westminster Pit was located on Duck Lane, Orchard Street (since renamed St. Matthew's Street), and its dimensions were approximately 20 feet (6.1 m) by 18 feet (5.5 m). The gallery was 3 feet (0.91 m) above the arena and was capable of containing 200 people – or, by report of William Pitt Lennox, "perhaps a greater number of less refractory persons, for the common run of spectators were so obstreperous and so agitated by various emotions, according to the amount of bets depending, and the various turns of the conflict, that a decent orderly person would feel himself much incommoded by a considerably less number."
Prior to the beginning of matches, the stakes would be formalised and the dogs weighed. It was common in the Westminster Pit (and other venues like it) for cheating to occur, often by way of covering a dog with substances – such as acid or pepper – that would deter his opponent from biting him. For this reason, it was compulsory that all combatants be washed in water or milk, and a participant was permitted to lick his opponent's dog as a precaution.
...
Wikipedia