Bullfighting. They are both about anthropomorphizing human-male bestiality into some tortured-concept of 'art'/skill/combat: for same psych. rationale as violent video and movie games.
Vicarious.. is soo much easier than actually experiencing inflicted-Hurt.. for your basic-coward.
The owner, apparently of Mexican dissent, grew up (one might presume) within Mexico or surely, within that culture.
He was practising Their form of cruelty-for-fun, as we do with boxing, football-tackles, hunting for trophy-heads (and less obviously: the bullying of younger kids, etc.)
Should that cultural background cut him any slack?
We have our own execrable habits, evident in the still widespread neglect, even of torture (via some small unknown percentage of perps in Murica) of domestic animals
-- thousands of cats/dogs annually etc. Let him who is without s(p)in try the motherfucker. (I'd never make that jury after voir dire.)