A Spanish-language website has stepped up to the plate (ha) and posted the video of Mets pitcher Pedro Martinez presiding over a cockfight in his native Dominican Republic. PETA, of course, has already sounded off (read about the group’s call for MLB-mandated “animal-sensitivity training” here), but we’re doubting this scandal has the potential to take on Michael Vick-like seriousness for three reasons: First, anything that was fair game in an episode of Seinfeld can’t be that taboo. Second, it’s actually legal in the D.R. Third, unlike dog, most people, you know, actually eat chicken.

Martinez, for his part, has issued a statement regarding the cockfight, though it’s not exactly an apology: “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.”

[via Gawker]