The measure rewrites an initiative adopted by voters last November by a margin of 124,000 votes.

The bill now goes to the Senate floor, where its author, Sen. Frank Shurden, said its approval is not assured. "It will be a close vote," he said.

Officials with the Oklahoma Coalition Against Cockfighting were not immediately available for comment Wednesday night after the committee action.

The bill was approved on a show of hands in the Senate Appropriations Committee despite objections that it amounts to overriding the will of the people.

Shurden, D-Henryetta, pressed the bill after withdrawing his earlier plan to legalize cockfighting in the 57 counties that voted against the ban and its penalty provisions.

The vote on State Question 687 left cockfighting legal in only two states, Louisiana and New Mexico. Cockfighting is an ancient blood sport in which roosters are fitted with metal gaffs or knives, sometimes fighting to the death.

"It is wrong to make felons out of people for raising chickens," Shurden said.

The state question made it a felony to own or raise fowl for fighting.

Participating in cockfights also would be a misdemeanor under Shurden's bill. The penalty would be a $500 fine and up to a year in jail. Attending a cockfight would be a misdemeanor carrying a $200 fine.

Sen. Mark Snyder, R-Edmond, said the public knew what they voted on last November.

"The majority has spoken. We have a responsibility to the public to accept their will," Snyder said.

Shurden said rural Oklahoma had been victimized by a smear campaign by animal rights activists pushing the cockfighting ban.

He said the ban passed only because of a heavy vote for it in the metropolitan areas.

"They threw it down the throat of the people in these rural areas," said Sen. Jeff Rabon, D-Hugo.

Twenty-seven of the 31 committee members present raised their hands in favor of Shurden's bill, which now goes to the Senate floor for consideration. There was no recorded vote.

Source: http://www.oklahoman.com/cgi-bin/show_article?ID=988859&pic=none&TP=getarticle

Police probe counts 770 cockfights, massive bets

By LILA FUJIMOTO 

Staff Writer

WAILUKU — Police conducted surveillance of 770 cockfighting matches at three Maui locations during a nearly yearlong investigation that led to more than 30 arrests last month.

Thousands of dollars in bets were placed during the matches, with derby or team competitions providing first-place prizes of $80,000 to $100,000, said police Sgt. Sterling Kiyota of the Vice Gambling/Morals Unit.

He described the investigation called “Operation Down the Hatch” at a Maui County Police Commission meeting Wednesday.

Kiyota said police have arrested 32 of 35 Maui residents indicted in the investigation of organized crime schemes, on charges ranging from misdemeanor gambling to racketeering, a felony that carries a penalty of up to 10 years in prison and a $25,000 fine. Those arrested have been ordered not to attend or be involved in cockfighting or illegal gambling after they were released on bail while awaiting trial.

Police said the investigation and arrests dismantled two criminal organizations involved in illegal cockfighting and gambling.

The racketeering charges, which allege involvement in organized illegal activity, were brought based on evidence of felony gambling, Kiyota said. To bring a felony charge of first-degree promotion of gambling, police had to show that more than $1,000 in profits was received during a seven-day period.

Kiyota said police received information that the groups organizing the illegal gambling operations collected $100 as a share of each cockfight. “So if there were 11 or more fights, we had the felony,” he said.

He said those indicted for being involved in the organized criminal activity assumed various roles at the cockfights including referee, security guard, money handler, concession operator and weigher of birds.

Indictments in the cases cover the period from Feb. 11 to Dec. 15 last year.

Kiyota said the cockfighting matches observed as part of the police investigation included three major sites: 

— 423 matches at the old Maui High School campus at Hamakuapoko, where matches were held every Sunday. 

— 177 at Old Maui Block in Waikapu, where matches were held every Wednesday. 

— 170 at the Kahului end of the drag strip at Maui Raceway Park in Puunene, where matches were scheduled every Saturday.

Officers didn’t observe illegal drug transactions at the cockfights, “but there’s known drug people that attend,” Kiyota said.

Typically, 50 to several hundred people would attend the cockfights, with some observers wagering among themselves while those participating in the cockfights were making bets against each other, Kiyota said.

In a derby, which involves team competition during multiple matches, the top prizes would be $80,000 to $100,000, he said.

Vice Gambling/Morals Unit officers involved in the investigation also included Brian Abe, Stephen Orikasa and Edwin Arreola, who all have been promoted to sergeant.

Assistant Police Chief Gary Yabuta said the police crackdown on cockfighting has continued, noting 14 people were arrested on cockfighting charges last month.

The arrests included four made during two raids conducted on Jan. 18 at a dirt lot near a dumping area in Hana. About 100 people were attending the cockfights when officers dispersed the crowds and made arrests.

Source: http://www.maui.net/~mauinews/lnews4a.htm