August 26, 2008

BATON ROUGE, La. -- Louisiana this month became the 50th state to ban cockfighting, a major step in combating the blood sport, according to the Humane Society of America.

“The fact that now all 50 states have banned cock fighting shows that the policy debate is over,” John Goodwin, manager of animal fighting issues for the HSUS, told Pet Pulse. “We have a complete social consensus that setting animals against each other in fights to the death is wrong. And now it becomes a law enforcement issue.”

There remain, however, 13 states where cockfighting is punished as a misdemeanor, not a felony. The activity is most prevalent in Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Hawaii, Goodwin says, all states where cockfighting is a misdemeanor.

Parts of Texas, where the offense is a felony, are also known for cockfighting, Goodwin says. The other states where cockfighting is a misdemeanor are Arkansas, Idaho, Kansas, Mississippi, Ohio, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah and West Virginia.

“In the states where it’s a felony, we see it go into sharp decline,” Goodwin said. “But there’s states like Alabama, where the penalty for cockfighting is a maximum is a $50 fine.”

Cockfighting participants consider such a modest fine to be a slap on the wrist and the cost of doing business, Goodwin says.

During a press conference at the East Baton Rouge Parish Animal Control Center, state Attorney General James “Buddy” Caldwell was joined by HSUS president and CEO Wayne Pacelle. They announced that cockfighting is now punishable in Louisiana by up to six months in prison and a maximum $1,000 fine for a first offense.

“Our next legislative goal is to make cockfighting a felony in all 50 states, so that we can really put this out of business for good,” Goodwin said.

There are more people involved in dogfighting than cockfighting, which can be misleading to the public, Goodwin says.

“Cockfighting tends to lead to the death of far more animals,” he said. “Because a dog fight is going to go for 45 minutes to an hour and a half, on average, sometimes as long as two or three hours.

“A cock fight is going to be over in a few minutes at most, because they have knives on the heels of the birds. They slice each other to pieces. As a result, these guys fight a lot more birds over the course of an evening.”

Many people tend to dismiss cockfighting as less violent than it really is, Goodwin says.

“They might envision two roosters pecking at each other on the barnyard,” he said. “In fact, what they do is they breed roosters for high levels of aggression, they give them adrenaline-boosting drugs, and they saw off the natural spur on the back of a rooster’s leg.

“And then when it’s time to fight, they tie on, in its place, either a knife or an instrument called a gaff, which is similar to a curved ice pick. So when they fight, they’re picking each other with those artificial weapons and stabbing each other.

“That’s a cock fight.”

Like dogfighting, Goodwin says, cockfighting is often accompanied by illegal gambling, drug trafficking and sometimes even worse crimes.

“There have even been a large number of homicides at cock fights in the past few years,” he said. “And I guess that that makes sense. Because you mix a violent blood sport with high stakes gambling, the people that bring weapons to protect the large amount of gambling dollars they bring with them.

“And when tensions flare and you mix blood, and gambling, and money and guns, things happen.”

Attending raids on cockfights, Goodwin says he has seen baby game roosters and roosters that were just fought, which helps fuel his passion for stopping the practice.

“A lot of people rightfully care about dogs that are the victims of dogfighting, and they should, and we need more people working on that issue,” Goodwin said. “The roosters, a lot of people don’t get to know the individual roosters, or really see them for what they are. They’re beautiful animals.

“And I feel like, a lot of the times they kind of get ignored. So I personally put a lot of time and effort into trying to help them.”

Incidentally, Massachusetts was the first state to ban cockfighting in 1836, which was at about the same time when England and Wales banned the sport.

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