Inuoumono

Inuoumono (犬追物) was a Japanese sport that involved mounted archers shooting at dogs.

The dogs were released into a circular enclosure approximately 15m across, and mounted archers would fire upon them whilst riding around the perimeter.

[1] Originally intended as a military training exercise,[2] dog-shooting became popular as a sport among the Japanese nobility during the Kamakura and Muromachi periods (1185-1573).

[7] This modification to the original sport was suggested by the Buddhist clergy, as a way of preventing injury to the dogs used.

Occasional revivals have taken place: there is a record of the shōgun Tokugawa Ieyoshi viewing dog-shooting in 1842, and the sport was performed for Ulysses S. Grant during an official visit to Japan in 1879 (Grant reportedly expressed distaste for the practice).