AR-News: Daily Oklahoman- Cockfighting is Culture of Death

[Political Animal]

Oklahoman Editorial: Culture of death
2004-05-30




THE RAID last week on a dogfighting arena in eastern
Oklahoma is instructive as the debate continues on the
state's cockfighting ban. 
The penalty for illegal cockfighting, approved by
voters in 2002, is basically the same as the penalty
for illegal dogfighting. Dogfighting wasn't the issue
in 2002, but the people knew they were imposing
penalties that elevate the crime of cockfighting to a
level designed to discourage fights rather than impose
token sanctions. 

Those engaged in either cockfighting or dogfighting
are sometimes engaged in other crimes. The raid near
Wetumka, where 141 pit bull terriers were seized, also
netted illegal drugs and two dozen guns. Illegal
gambling is common at the fighting pits; indeed, it is
probably the prime reason these activities take place.


We recognize that people make a distinction between
canines and poultry. Even some who are supportive of
or indifferent to cockfighting don't feel comfortable
with the use of man's best friend for a blood sport.
This is why dogfighting has long been illegal in
Oklahoma and was banned by the Legislature itself. 

By contrast, the cockfighting ban was imposed less
than two years ago and only happened through an
initiative petition. 

Interest in the fighting of animals is cultural. In
other cultures, where dogs are not only fought but
eaten, less distinction is made between domesticated
animals and wild beasts. The cockfighting culture,
inextricably mixed with the gambling and
methamphetamine culture, still holds sway in parts of
Oklahoma. Apparently, the same can be said of the
dogfighting culture. 

That children sometimes attend these events is
alarming. Since cruelty to animals by children is a
precursor to cruelty to humans by adults, the impact
of organized animal fighting may go far beyond the
fighting pits. 

A majority of Oklahomans wants dogfighting and
cockfighting to be banned. They want law enforcement
officers to take these crimes seriously. They want the
violators punished by more than a small fine. 

Laws alone won't stamp out a culture deemed
unacceptable by the majority. But laws are what
separate civilized people from savages. 

The savage, organized fighting of pit bulls is part of
the fringe culture in Oklahoma. If felony penalties
for dogfighting don't entirely stop the activity, how
much less would a slap on the wrist stop illegal
cockfighting? 

Yet ever since voters banned cockfighting, the losers
in the 2002 vote have tried to decriminalize the
activity so that it can continue more or less in the
open. 

The state Senate this year, to its lasting shame,
endorsed the decriminalization of cockfighting. Senate
President Pro Tempore Cal Hobson joined the majority
in this vote. Thankfully, the House of Representatives
(with no help from Speaker Larry Adair or Minority
Leader Todd Hiett) turned back this attempt. 

We may go to greater lengths to protect dogs than we
do chickens, but in the end there isn't much
difference between fighting dogs and fighting
chickens. 

Both are bloody. Both can result in the death of
animals for no purpose other than scratching a
primitive cultural itch. Both are distasteful to the
majority. Both are now illegal in Oklahoma and carry
felony penalties. 

Both should remain in that category. 




	
		
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