AR-News: URGENT LA COCK FIGHTING BILL

[ISPEAKInc at aol.com]

Unless the Senate of Louisiana gets enough support showing people do not want 
Cock fighting, the bill will be defeated.  Any activist in LA should attend, 
as early as possible.

I-SPEAK 


Subj:NEED YOUR VOICE 
Date:5/4/04 1:15:55 PM Eastern Daylight Time
From:Laura at la-spca.org
To:Laura at la-spca.org
Sent from the Internet (Details)


Dear Friends:

It's chicken time.  We need your voice and your presence.  The
cockfighting bill will be heard in the Agriculture committee tomorrow
(Wednesday) following the close of the House Floor session.  It's
expected that 100 cockfighters will be present to protest the ban.  We
need to equal them in support. If you can come, your presence will be
meaningful.  We are planning to be at the Capital by 4pm and expect to
stay until 10pm.  Hopefully you can leave work early and join us!

For your convenience, the email addresses for the Representatives on the
Agriculture Committee are listed below.  

larep019 at legis.state.la.us, larep032 at legis.state.la.us,
larep007 at legis.state.la.us, larep18 at legis.state.la.us,
hdowns at legis.state.la.us , larep013 at legis.state.la.us,
larep047 at legis.state.la.us, larep035 at legis.state.la.us ,
larep034 at legis.state.la.us, larep040 at legis.state.la.us,
larep020 at legis.state.la.us, larep038 at legis.state.la.us,
larep037 at legis.state.la.us, webreps at legis.state.la.us,
larep060 at legis.state.la.us, larep074 at legis.state.la.us,
larep024 at legis.state.la.us, larep029 at legis.state.la.us 

It will be terrific if this bill passes committee, but without a lot of
noise, it's unlikely to.  Your help is very much needed.  Please pass
onto your friends across the state.

When writing, please include a note  about economic development and the
difficulty attracting industry to our state when our culture has
accepted that cockfighting is legal. If we care about the future, it's
critical that we stop such barbaric sports as cockfighting. It's an
embarrassment for our state.

Below are the names of the legislators and a recent news story out of
Baton Rouge.  

Thompson, Francis C.  Chairman  19  D  
Hill, Herman Ray  Vice Chair  32  D  
Bruce, Beverly G.  Member  7  D  
Cazayoux, Jr., Donald J.  Member  18  D  
Downs, Hollis  Member  12  R  
Fannin, James R.  Member  13  D  
Frith, Mickey  Member  47  D  
Geymann, Brett F.  Member  35  R  
Guillory, Mickey J.  Member  41  D  
Hudson, Charles I.  Member  40  D  
Kenney, Lelon  Member  20  D  
LaFleur, Eric  Member  38  D  
Morrish, Dan W. "Blade"  Member  37  D  
Smith, Jack D.  Member  50  D  
St. Germain, Karen Gaudet  Member  60  D  
Strain, Michael G.  Member  74  R  
Salter, Joe R.  Speaker  24  D  
Broome, Sharon Weston  Speaker Pro Tempore  29  D  


                        Copyright 2004 Associated Press
                              All Rights Reserved

                    The Associated Press State & Local Wire

           These materials may not be republished without the express
                    written consent of The Associated Press

                        April 30, 2004, Friday, BC cycle

SECTION: State and Regional

LENGTH: 648 words

HEADLINE: Score at the Legislature: Hogs 1, Chickens yet to bat

BYLINE: By KEVIN McGILL, Associated Press Writer

DATELINE: BATON ROUGE, La.

BODY:

   Come Wednesday night we'll find out just who has the real political
muscle at the Legislature - the hogs or the chickens.

   The hogs have the upper hand so far. Rep. Warren Triche's bill that
would outlaw violent "hog-dog" events in which pit bulls are set upon
de-tusked boars was passed by the House of Representatives 75-25 last
week and was sent to the Senate, where a procedural effort to derail it
was defeated Thursday afternoon.

   Rep. Karen Carter's measure to outlaw cockfighting hasn't even had a
committee hearing yet in the House; and there's a widespread feeling on
the House floor that it won't get out of the House Agriculture
Committee, which is scheduled to debate it Wednesday night.

   Both bills are aimed at events that various animal welfare groups say
are barbaric and cruel, but there's a definite dichotomy at work here:
Triche only got his bill passed after fighting off an attempt to amend
the anti-cockfighting language into it.

   "I figure 20 people from Acadiana alone would have voted against it
if cockfighting was included," Triche, D-Thibodaux, said last week.

   Subtract those 20 people, plus at least a few others from rural areas
where cockfighting is popular, and Triche's bill would have fallen short
of the 53 needed for House passage.

   Triche himself said he will vote to outlaw cockfighting - "unless I
have an overwhelming flood of phone calls from my constituents who are
in favor of it."

   So why is one bill flying easily through the Legislature while the
other appears stalled?


   Money is one reason. Consider that cockfighters claim Louisiana
already stands to lose some $206 million in business because of a recent
federal ban on the interstate transport of fighting cocks.

   In the town of Sunset, restaurateurs - even the local barber -
lamented the loss of walk-in business from out-of-state cockfighters in
interviews with The Associated Press earlier this year.

   And that's the aboveboard economy. Cockfighting opponents say that
illegal gambling on the bouts thrives.

   Cockfighting also appears to be a more deeply ingrained part of
Louisiana culture than the hog-dog events, which have only been getting
publicity in recent years.

   Just before the legislative session started, the Humane Society and
The Fund For Animals released a poll of 503 likely Louisiana voters and
found that 82 percent would like to see cockfighting banned; 71 percent
said they were strongly against it.

   Carter, D-New Orleans, said she's seen lots of letters to the editors
of state newspapers and has had calls and e-mails on the subject but
acknowledges that her colleagues, so far, don't seem to perceive
overwhelming voter outrage at cockfighting.

   No surprise in Louisiana, where voters apparently countenance a state
animal cruelty law that can't touch cockfighters because it specifically
states that fowl shall not be defined as animals.

   House Agriculture Committee Chairman Francis Thompson, who promises a
fair hearing on Carter's bill Wednesday night, may have summed up the
feeling of a lot of people last week in an interview with the AP.
Admitting to little familiarity with either hog-dog events or
cockfights, he said the cockfights somehow seem less objectionable.
"It's less gory, in my opinion," Thompson, D-Delhi, said.

   Rep. Cedric Richmond, D-New Orleans, may also be on to something.

   Richmond, on Wednesday, was having a bad day at the office - or,
rather, a bad day at the House Criminal Justice Committee, which made
short work of various gun control bills he was sponsoring.

   Lamenting the defeat of his bills, he noted the great attention being
paid hog-dog events and cockfights.

   "Across the state we have real live human beings being killed every
day," Richmond said. "And I don't see that same kind of concern."

   ---

   Editor's Note: Kevin McGill covers state government for The
Associated Press
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