AR-News: Down for the Count- Cockfighting Is Wobbling On It's Last Legs

[Political Animal]

This article from www.hsus.org developments in the
ongoing effort to stamp out cockfighting.
-----
Down for the Count: Cockfighting Is Wobbling on Its
Last Two Legs
 
By Wayne Pacelle 
The March 2004 issue of The Feathered Warrior, one of
the three national magazines devoted to cockfighting,
offered up its usual potpourri of
advertisements—cockfighting birds for $100 to $1,000
each, vitamins and stimulants for improving the birds'
performances in the pit, razor-sharp knives and gaffs
to ensure maximum blood, and of course books on
gamefowl and cockfighting. 

But the magazine also ran a full-page advertisement
from a Toyota dealer in central Kentucky offering $500
off the purchase of a truck if the buyer was a member
of the Kentucky Gamefowl Breeders Association (KYGBA),
a group that purports to fancy gamefowl, but actually
exists to promote cockfighting. The ad also promised
that the dealership, Toyota on Nicholasville, would
donate $100 to KYGBA for every truck sale to an
association member. In short, the dealer had set up a
special deal for cockfighters that would increase the
membership of KYGBA and provide revenue to the group. 

"The KYGBA is a group of cockfighters that has a
record of promoting the inhumane and barbaric practice
of instigated animal fighting—a practice that is
illegal under Kentucky law," I wrote in a letter to
Toyota on behalf of The HSUS. "It is outrageous and
unethical for this Toyota dealer to raise money for
this network of cockfighters. This promotion should be
halted today." 

KYGBA's latest ploy was no great surprise to The HSUS,
which has closely followed the group, which is known
to be the most brazen of statewide cockfighting
organizations. The association treated the Kentucky
Supreme Court's 1994 ruling, which essentially
outlawed cockfighting, as little more than a minor
inconvenience to the conduct of their normal
operations. 

After receiving our letter and then hearing from the
press, officials at Toyota beat a hasty retreat on the
issue, announcing that it "had made a terrible
mistake" and would sever its relationship with the
cockfighting group. "The ownership of Toyota on
Nicholasville does not support this group's activities
and has immediately demanded that its management and
employees cease any association with this
organization," read a company statement. 

The firestorm over the collaboration demonstrated that
cockfighting is still a significant underground
industry with a devoted following; after all, the
dealership apparently felt that there were enough
cockfighters to justify a targeted promotion to the
group. But by quickly jettisoning the cockfighters,
the car dealer proved that even potential allies of
the industry know that any alliance with a group held
in such contempt can ultimately serve no benefit. 

The cockfighters are radioactive from a political and
corporate perspective. 

Our Offensive Against Cockfighting 

Since its founding in 1954, The HSUS has campaigned
aggressively against cockfighting, investigating
illegal animal fighting activities, training law
enforcement officials on investigating and prosecuting
illegal animal fighters, and working for laws against
the activity. 

In 1997, we stepped up our political attack on the
bloodsport, helping to launch successful ballot
initiatives in Arizona and Missouri to outlaw
cockfighting and make it a felony offense. Voters
approved ballot initiatives in these states in 1998. 

In 1999, we launched a campaign to close a loophole in
the federal animal fighting law in order to ban
interstate or foreign commerce in fighting birds;
after a high-profile political tussle—in which
cockfighters hired several former senators to slow
down the progress of the legislation—Congress enacted
the transport ban in 2002. And that same year, we
helped to pass a ballot initiative in Oklahoma to
outlaw cockfighting and make it a felony offense. 

We also moved to strengthen laws in other states. In
2003, we helped to pass laws in Florida and
Oregon—states with major "underground" cockfighting
operations—to outlaw the sale and possession of
fighting birds and to make cockfighting and related
activities felony offenses. That same year, California
upgraded its penalties for illegal cockfighting. And
in 2004, Iowa and Maryland joined the ranks, making it
a felony to engage in cockfighting and related
activities. 

Since 1997, a total of 14 states have upgraded
penalties for cockfighting. Those who engage in
cockfighting in any one of 31 states will now face
felony charges if caught. 

The Fight to Stop Animal Fighting 

The cockfighters have fought us every step of the way.
And they continue to fight in the courts. 

Immediately after voters approved the
anti-cockfighting ballot initiative in Oklahoma,
cockfighters filed lawsuits in rural counties
throughout the state to block enforcement of the law.
Finally, in March 2004—more than 15 months after
voters approved the ban—the Oklahoma Supreme Court
unanimously ruled that the anti-cockfighting law is
constitutional. 

Dozens of cockfighting pits in the state have been
forced to shut down, even as the cockfighters' leading
advocate in the legislature, state Senator Frank
Shurden (D-Henryetta), attempts to place a measure on
the ballot in November 2004 to decriminalize the
activity. If Shurden fails, the cockfighters'
fall-back strategy is to qualify an initiative
petition for the statewide ballot to protect
cockfighting and a wide range of other animal uses.
But most observers predict that the cockfighters won't
even come close to gathering the signatures needed to
put the measure to a vote. 

The cockfighting community also filed a claim in U.S.
District Court in Lafayette, Louisiana to invalidate
the 2002 amendments to the federal law against animal
fighting. The cockfighters' attorney, a former dean of
the Tulane Law School, argued that the ban is
unconstitutional, and even proffered the fanciful
argument that the law discriminates against Cajuns,
African-Americans, and Hispanics. 

Meanwhile, we have worked in dozens of states to bust
illegal cockfighting operations. In Florida this past
February, we worked with local law enforcement and
humane society officials to bust major cockfighting
operations in Indian River County, confiscating more
than 1,700 fighting birds. 

We have also worked with law enforcement to
orchestrate the arrests of illegal cockfighters in
counties throughout California and the rest of the
country. We are training hundreds of law enforcement
personnel every year on how to conduct effective
investigations and raids. 

And Then There Were Two 

The only two states that still allow cockfighting are
Louisiana and New Mexico, even though some parishes
and counties in these states outlaw the practice. 

In 2003, The HSUS commissioned a poll with Animal
Protection of New Mexico (APNM), which revealed that
81% of New Mexicans want cockfighting outlawed. A bill
to accomplish that goal passed the state House in
2003, but one senator prevented consideration of the
legislation by the full Senate, and the bill died. The
HSUS and APNM intend to mount a major effort in 2005
to get the bill over the finish line, and to get
Governor Bill Richardson to take a stand against the
barbaric practice. 

In Louisiana, The HSUS and The Fund for Animals
commissioned a poll of voters in March 2004. The
survey revealed that Louisiana voters have no more
sympathy for cockfighting than do voters in other
states. The statewide survey revealed 82% of residents
oppose cockfighting, and that every demographic group
takes a dim view of the staged combat. 

State Representative Karen Carter (D-New Orleans)
introduced a bill, H.B. 681, in January 2004 to make
cockfighting a felony. In May, the House Committee on
Agriculture defeated the bill in a 9–5 vote, but we
are working to have the bill voted on by the full
House. 

In recent months, the state's major newspapers have
denounced cockfighting. The Lafayette Advertiser
opined, "We hope lawmakers…bring an end to the
sport…They [fighting birds] will continue to do battle
even after being slashed repeatedly, brutally and
fatally…When they are finally ripped to death in the
ring, however, their corpses are usually tossed aside
like road-kill." 

The Shreveport Times added, "There is no compelling
reason, cultural or otherwise, why Louisiana should be
one of the last bastions of such a bloody endeavor." 

And law enforcement agencies from throughout the state
have lined up against the activity. At a press
conference in New Orleans, Jefferson Parish Sheriff
Harry Lee stated, "I support H.B. 681 to ban
cockfighting in Louisiana. As you all know, I love the
sport of hunting and fishing, but cockfighting is not
a sport. We're one of only two states in the nation
that still allows this barbaric practice, and when
this law passes, my office will vigorously enforce the
ban." 

A Renewed Effort in Congress 

While we have stepped up our efforts in the states to
outlaw cockfighting, we have not relented in our
efforts at the federal level. In 2002, the Congress
passed a ban on the interstate transport or export of
fighting birds. But during the final negotiations on
the bill, members of the Agriculture Committee
stripped the bill of its felony-level penalties. 

In 2003, we worked with Senators John Ensign (R-NV),
Wayne Allard (R-CO), and Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and
Representatives Roscoe Bartlett (R-MD) and Robert
Andrews (D-NJ) to introduce companion bills, S. 736
and H.R. 1532, to restore the felony-level penalty and
also to make it a felony to transport cockfighting
implements in interstate or foreign commerce. 

The bills have attracted about 250 cosponsors, and
they have been endorsed by more than 160 law
enforcement agencies. And in early May,
Representatives Mark Green (R-WI) and Elton Gallegly
(R-CA) introduced a new bill, H.R. 4264, to further
strengthen penalties for illegal transport of fighting
animals and make the offense part of Title 18 of the
United States criminal code. 

Recently, the National Chicken Council (NCC)—the trade
group for the poultry industry, which has long been
silent on the cockfighting issue—endorsed the federal
legislation. The NCC called cockfighting "inhumane"
and noted that fighting birds were "heavily
implicated" in an outbreak of exotic Newcastle disease
in Southern California in 2002 and 2003. NCC added
that "the traffic associated with cockfighting could
also spread avian influenza." 

In 2003, The HSUS worked to secure $800,000 in funding
for enforcement of the federal law against animal
fighting. In 2004, we are seeking $1.2 million,
recognizing that a law is only as valuable as the
enforcement effort that accompanies it. 

In short, we will not relent in our efforts until
these activities are rooted out of every community in
the United States.


Source:  http://hsus.org/ace/21073
 



	
		
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