AR-News: Another Louisiana Paper Endorses Cockfight Ban

[Political Animal]

http://www.thetowntalk.com/html/10A15084-0970-482A-A787-D37B42DC1899.shtml

 

The Town Talk (Alexandria, Louisiana)

Editorials

Time for La. to end cruel animal fights
Posted on May 5, 2004 

A committee hearing on state House Bill 681 to outlaw
cockfighting in Louisiana is scheduled for today in
the Legislature. Expect the feathers to fly again. 

Opponents of the practice in Louisiana have been
fighting this battle for years, calling it inhumane. 

Practitioners call it sport, and they have so far
prevailed. 

We call it just another negative for the state of
Louisiana. The debate over this issue will prompt the
kind of news story that will be repeated nationwide.
But Louisiana has a practice of calling attention to
itself with the weird and offbeat. 

Then, again, the rest of the nation is somehow
intrigued by our state's uniqueness. To some, at
least, the image of a state full of cockfighters
shouting encouragement to their favorite birds
battling in a pit and wagering on the blood sport sums
up the banana republic state. 

A long list of law enforcement agencies, the poultry
industry itself and most of the public agree that this
image needs to be put to rest. 

Arguments that cockfighting, like horse racing and
other animal sports, is a $150 million economic issue,
just don't ring true. Only two states - Louisiana and
New Mexico - still allow cockfighting, and the federal
government has outlawed the transport of fighting
birds across state lines. 

So there can't be much legal trade in the fowl. Nor do
we see crowds flocking to the events from out of
state. 

Complaints that the federal government is
discriminating against the Cajun and New Mexican
cultures because of the ban also won't wash. 

Those cultures are strong enough to withstand this
proposed ban. If the Cajun culture depended on the
image of cockfighting, it would be in a sorry state,
which it is not. 

And speaking of cultures, there is another culture
that claims the tradition of hog-dog fighting. A bill
is moving through the Legislature that will outlaw the
kind of bloody sport that pits dogs against
defenseless hogs for enjoyment and gambling purposes. 

The Uncle Earl Hog-Dog trials held in Winnfield and
the practice of running dogs in the open woods to hunt
down wild hogs - those still with tusks - is
specifically exempted from this bill. The Winnfield
event is billed as one in which the dogs only chase
and corner the hogs. 

House Bill 1244 by Warren Triche, D-Thibodaux, passed
the Louisiana House 75-25 last week and is scheduled
for debate in the Senate this week. It needs the full
support of every senator. 

In this case, also, the supporters of these events
cite the economic benefits to the state. We say we
don't want that kind of money. 

Just as we are outraged by the cruel animal shelter
conditions that still exist in many places, including
Central Louisiana, we should be outraged by these
degrading behaviors disguised as sporting events. 

Let's move on and finally get rid of the outdated
practices that attract other vices and perpetuate an
unsavory image for Louisiana. 




	
		
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