Fila Brasileiro

Several theories attempt to explain the presence of the Fila Brasileiro in Brazil. All research conducted has no zootechnical basis due to the absence of concrete documentation. However, thanks to research conducted in the largest historical libraries of the "North-east" and "South-east" of Brazil, we believe that the current Fila Brasileiro entered Brazil through the State of Pernambuco. It would have been brought there by the Flemish-Dutch of the Dutch West India Company and collectors in England. These dominated the Brazilian North-East from 1630 to 1654, when they were expelled by Brazilians. The Fila dog is defined in old Portuguese as a large, aggressive and vulgar dog. In other words, it is the main characteristics of the Mastiff dog. There is not sufficient and convincing documentation proving an importation of ancestors of Fila by the Portuguese, English, French or Africans, peoples who actively participated in the colonization of Brazil. Towards the seventeenth century, in central Brazil, the mention of a Fila dog is found in two registers. The first: "Journey of the English naturalist and polyglot captain Richard F. Barton". Example, in the Rio Sabara, at Santa Luzia, Minas Gerais, in the valley of the Rio São Francisco: "Nega", a Mastiff bitch, resembled a jaguar, and showed very aggressive when found tied and barked furiously as if it had been locked in a cage. She inspired terror in those who saw her for the first time and made herself very useful. Thus, practically all men traveled with fierce dogs. The second is that of a famous naturalists, Maximilian, prince of Wied-Neuwied. He traveled through Brazil towards the beginning of the 19th century, just after the Portuguese king John VI opened the ports, allowing the free entry of foreigners. He shows two engravings: the first depicts Fila dogs also called Cabeçudos, Onceiros or Boiadeiros surrounding an ox and around cowboys on horseback dressed in leather, as in the North-east. In the second engraving, a jaguar in a tree harassed by Fila dogs. All dogs have their ears cut. Maximilian relates the fact to the south of Bahia, on the border of Minas Gerais. The Fila dog was located, penetrating Brazil through the state of Pernambuco, following the Francisco river, it reaches the State of Minas Gerais. Thanks to the presence of settlers descended from Europeans, who appreciated the Fila and found a use for it, gave it dairy food, then available, which allowed the dog's survival. A cycle formed involving relationships with the forest, jaguars, humans, livestock, a cycle which favored the survival of the Fila.