The Cuban Bloodhound

(AKA Presa, Fila, plantation bulldog)

"The Cuban Bloodhound is said to be a variety of the mastiff." 

"The Cuban Bloodhound was a powerful dog used, besides for guard and defense tasks, to chase and attack fugitive slaves and Indians from the second half of the 18th century till the second half of the 19th century, but whose historical roots must be looked up into the dogs brought by the Spaniards for the conquest of the West Indies during the 17th and 16th centuries." 

"These divisions were based on size, coat coloration, and use: by tradition, light-colored mastiffs were used to guard flocks, in the belief that they would not scare the sheep, and dark-colored ones to homes and to fight, because they terrorized people. They were not 'breeds,' as they are known today, divided by registries and close adherence to standards. Eventually all of these dogs, as well as spaniels and settlers (sic), made it to America, along with the concept of blood purity, but the most significant were the lebrel, mastin, alano, and sabueso and crosses involving them that ultimately became known as the Cuban bloodhound, a fearsome, long-legged dog with size, endurance, strength, and a mastiff's crushing jaws, used to track down and kill slaves.
The forebears of these dogs, and their handlers, had learned the art of la monteria infernal the infernal chase, in the Canary Islands in 1480, when they literally ran to ground, maimed, killed, and devoured the natives. But the fell beasts were even better known for feasting on children abandoned at the doors of churches and mosques by their desperate parents during Ferdinand and Isabella's successful campaign to seize Granada from the Moors. That victory came just months before Columbus' first voyage; a few of these dogs or their offspring were doubtless on his second trip. " A Dog's History In America, Mark Derr

"In 1795 a large number of Bloodhound-type hounds were sent to Jamaica to quell the rising of the inhabitants.  These hounds were probably the Cuban Bloodhounds with their origins in Spain, and they are undoubtedly extremely ferocious and savage creatures.  They were also frequently used to chase runaway slaves in the West Indies and Cuba and also in the south of the U.S.A.  These hounds, however, seem to have had very little connection with the British Bloodhounds."  reference 

The first recorded use of dogs by the United States Army was during the 2nd Seminole War in 1835. Thirty three Cuban Bloodhounds were bought at a cost of several thousand dollars and 5 handlers were used by the US Army to track the Seminoles and the runaway slaves they were harboring, in the swamps of western Florida and Louisiana.  (right: 2nd Seminole War) This dog depicted could easily be mistaken for an APBT, yet history records this to be a Cuban Bloodhound, known in the south today as the Brindle Bulldog. The BB should never be confused with the APBT!

"To the present has been referred by some naturalists a dog of Spanish descent, termed the Cuban Bloodhound." Anecdotes of Dogs by Edward Jesse 1858  The Cuban Bloodhound was also known as the Fila throughout the Americas. The photo right is that of slave writing discovered in a hidden room of a house along the underground railroad. It reads, 'Fila bite ? people.' Notice the drawing of the dog's head. Compare it to that of Tiger's portrait below.

"His brother, if not equal in wealth, was at least equal in cruelty. His bloodhounds were well trained. Their pen was spacious, and a terror to the slaves. They were let loose on a runaway, and, if they tracked him, they literally tore the flesh from his bones." Harriet Jacobs, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl (1861)

"The Cuban Bloodhound-equal to the mastiff in bulk, and uniting the agility of the greyhound to the courage of the bulldog-is an awkward beast to contend with at any time..."  The West Indies by: Charles Henry Eden 1880

The Cuban Bloodhound inherited all the main characteristics of the these dogs. In the beginning the Cuban Bloodhound was used for combat against the Indians. These Mastiffs were employed in Cuba and the southern US for the surveillance of the slaves in the plantations and above all for the recovery of the escapees. It's color was red, tawny, with or without spots or brindling, coat bristled. Its head with a broad skull and a rather wide snout with full lips. Its ears were pendants and with wide junctions. This singular race was characterized as one of rare aggressiveness. It was a dog of great desire in its job, of much tenacity and of fearless courage. Men feared facing it as it was common that the dogs succeeded to kill without difficulty. It's bite was particularly strong. It was distinguished from the others dogs also for its resistance and its churlishness. (Rudeness of manners or temper; lack of kindness or courtesy). Slavery became abolished in 1878 in Cuba, and in 1864 in the US, and with the renunciation of Spain to all its rights on the Cuban island in 1895, there was no need to use these dogs for their original function in Cuba or in the US. In consequence, the Cuban Bloodhound disappeared quickly. However, it was only the name 'Cuban Bloodhound' that disappeared. The dogs themselves remained on remote farms in the backwoods of the rural south known as brindle bulldogs and red bulldogs. The use of the term bulldog to describe these dogs began during the mid 1800's and continues to this day. "Our overseer, thus armed with his cowhide, and with a large bull-dog behind him, followed the slaves all day; and, if one of them fell in the rear from any cause, this cruel weapon was plied with terrible force. He would strike the dog one blow and the slave another, in order to keep the former from tearing the delinquent slave in pieces, - such was the ferocity of his canine attendant."  Austin Steward, Twenty-Two Years a Slave (1857)

Despite it's Spanish origins, the Presa, Fila, or Cuban Bloodhound became commonly known as a bulldog, even in England, as depicted in this drawing of John Bull with bulldog, John Bull being England's counterpart to America's Uncle Sam. This is not the bulldog of England at that time, but that which was developed in the New World, beginning with the Spanish Conquistadores and later used in the south as plantation bulldogs for the same function as those of the conquistadores. The common colors of brindle and red brown (often considered fawn) are the common colors of mastiff type dogs throughout Spain and Portugal's New World. Above photo: English Bulldogs in 1885

"Jerome, a slave owned by the Rev. Mr. Wilson, when about to be punished by his master, ran away. Tabor and his hounds were sent for. The slave-catcher came, and at once set his dogs upon the trail. The parson and some of the neighbors went along for the fun that was in store. These dogs will attack a negro, at their master's bidding, and cling to him as a bull-dog will cling to a beast.  Many are the speculations as to whether the negro will be secured alive or dead, when these dogs get on his track."  My Southern Home; the South and it's People:  by William Wells Brown M.D. 1880  left: Tabor's catch-dog "Growler"

"The dogs used on Bayou Boeuf for hunting slaves are a kind of bloodhound, but a far more savage breed than is found in the northern states. They will attack a negro at his master's bidding, and cling to him as a common bulldog will cling to a four-footed animal." Twelve Years as a Slave Solomon Northrup

Theodore Roosevelt

"There have been instances in which five or six of the big so-called bloodhounds of the southern states - not pure bloodhounds at all, but huge, fierce, ban-dogs with a cross of the ferocious Cuban Bloodhound, to give them good scenting powers-have by themselves mastered the cougar and the Black Bear. Such instances occurred in the hunting history of my own fore-fathers on my mother's side, who during the last half of the eighteenth century, and the first half of the present century, lived in Georgia, and over the border in what are now Alabama and Florida. These big dogs can only overcome such foes by rushing in in a body and grappling all together; if they hang back, lunging and snapping, a cougar or bear will destroy them one by one."  Hunting the Grisly and Other Sketches: by Theodore Roosevelt   

"Seven hounds had been doing the trailing, while a large brindled bloodhound and two half-breeds running so close to his horse's heels that they continually bumped into them, which he accepted with philosophic composure. Then the dogs proceeded literally to climb the tree, which was a many-forked pinion; one of the half-breeds, named Tony, got up certainly sixteen feet, until the lynx, which looked like a huge and exceedingly malevolent pussy-cat, made vicious dabs at him. I shot the lynx low, so as not to hurt his skin.

Yesterday we were in the saddle for ten hours. The dogs ran one lynx down and killed it among the rocks after a vigorous scuffle. It was in a hole and only two of them could get at it."  Soon we saw the lion in a treetop, with two of the dogs so high up among the branches that he was striking at them. He was more afraid of us than of the dogs, and as soon as he saw us he took a great flying leap and was off, the pack close behind. In a few hundred yards they had him up another tree. Here I could have shot him (Tony climbed almost up to him, and then fell twenty feet out of the tree), but waited for Stewart to get a photo; and he jumped again. This time, after a couple of hundred yards, the dogs caught him, and a great fight followed. They could have killed him by themselves, but he bit or clawed four of them, and for fear he might kill one I ran in and stabbed him behind the shoulder, thrusting the knife you loaned me right into his heart. I have always wished to kill a cougar as I did this one, with dogs and the knife.  

Most of the trip neither you nor Mother nor Sister would enjoy; but you would all of you be immensely amused with the dogs. There are eleven all told, but really only eight do very much hunting. These eight are all scarred with the wounds they have received this very week in battling with the cougars and lynxes, and they are always threatening to fight one another; but they are as affectionate toward men (and especially toward me, as I pet them) as our own home dogs. At this moment a large hound and a small half-breed bull-dog, both of whom were quite badly wounded this morning by a cougar, are shoving their noses into my lap to be petted, and humming defiance to one another. They are on excellent terms with the ranch cat and kittens. The three chief fighting dogs, who do not follow the trail, are the most affectionate of all, and, moreover, they climb trees! Yesterday we got a big lynx in the top of a pinion tree—a low, spreading kind of pine—about thirty feet tall. Turk, the bloodhound, followed him up, and after much sprawling actually got to the very top, within a couple of feet of him. Then, when the lynx was shot out of the tree, Turk, after a short scramble, took a header down through the branches, landing with a bounce on his back. Tony, one of the half-breed bull-dogs, takes such headers on an average at least once for every animal we put up a tree." "Letter's to his Children" by Theodore Roosevelt

Of the eleven dogs, 'only eight do very much hunting' while 'the three chief fighting dogs, who do not follow the trail, are the most affectionate of all.' We must ask ourselves why the 'three chief fighting dogs' do not follow the trail? The answer is the true nature of fighting dogs known as the Alaunt / Mastiff is one of defense and guarding, not of pursuit. This is the classic separation of the presa (pursuit dog), and the ayuda, (dog of defense), aka header and heeler, header being the ayuda and heeler being the presa.

"Just as the Spanish Conquistadors used savage dogs to quell native opposition during their forays inland, so too did the Portuguese. Such dogs were the Alauntes, known on both sides of the Pryenes and coming in three main forms; the huge hounds rather like today's Great Dane, the hunting mastiffs used in the hunts (at the kill) rather on the physical lines of today's Bullmastiff and the smaller (Alauntes of the Butchery) rather like the original authentic bulldogs of Britain." Mastiffs the Big Game Hunters by: David Hancock - Thus we see the origins of the White English, Brindle Bulldog, and Big Red Bulldog.

"You would be much amused with the animals round the ranch. The most thoroughly independent and self-possessed of them is a large white pig which we have christened Maude. She goes everywhere at her own will; she picks up scraps from the dogs, who bay dismally at her, but know they have no right to kill her; and then she eats the green alfalfa hay from the two milk cows who live in the big corral with the horses. One of the dogs has just had a litter of puppies; you would love them, with their little wrinkled noses and squeaky voices."  "Letter's to his Children" by Theodore Roosevelt   

The Cuban Bloodhound is a direct ancestor of the Brindle Bulldog and Old Red Bulldog, (a large, highly aggressive guard dog being red in color, and quite rare), of Louisiana and Mississippi. It is said that this Old Red Bulldog is a cross of the Cuban Bulldog and Dogue de Bordeaux, and was developed in Louisiana  in the 18th and 19th centuries as a ferocious and malevolent guard dog. The Cuban Bloodhound was a key ingredient in the makeup of many guard and hunting type dogs of the south in early American history, thus the highly aggressive behavior; the notorious "mean streak;" that has followed bulldogs in American history.

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