The Presa did have a brief period in dog fighting. It is believed to be because the old farmers after working their farms got bored and didn't have much else to do they began dog fighting. That soon became a popular form of entertainment. Some breeders began to add some pit bulls into their dogs. In addition to popular breeds like the German Shepherd , Rottweiler etc dog fighting was outlawed. This is what led to the almost extinction of the breed. There were farmers that continued to preserve their line of Presa canarios to use as they always had as farm utility dogs. The name Perro de Presa Canario is translated as catch dog. The dogs owned by the few farmers were later used as the foundation of dogs used to recreated the breed. Of course the island farmers weren't the bet at keeping records. A parent group was formed an a registry to keep records.