Society for the Preservation of Poultry Antiquities

 

----- Original Message -----

 http://www.fagerlund.addr.com/

 

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

 

GENERAL INTEREST

 

COCKFIGHTING

New Mexico is one of two states that allow the barbaric and reprehensible "sport" of cockfighting.  I recently wrote a column asking for comments from my readers on this subject. I was initially going to publish the results in my column, but the response was so heavy, there wouldn't have been room.  I decided to post the responses on my webpage.  Below you will find the comments from my readers.  Interestingly, I did not get a single letter from anyone who supports this cruelty.  It will be hard to believe our state legislators can go against the will of the people and continue to allow this nonsense.

In my column I suggested a possible compromise by asking the readers if they would support outlawing weapons on roosters and drug injections.  Just let the birds slap each other with their wings until one got tired.  Again, almost everyone was opposed to this compromise and insisted the "sport" be banned  altogether.  I wholeheartedly agree with my readers.

Here are some of the responses I received:

I am writing in response to your recent column, Cruelty of cockfighting bugging The Bugman. As you may know, cockfighting tops the list of things bugging me as well. I’d like to see it banned in New Mexico and Animal Protection Voters is spending a lot of time and effort to accomplish that goal.

Cockfighting needs to be banned; it does not need to be regulated. While outlawing the use of weapons and drugs during cockfights may seem to be a way to improve the welfare of the roosters in light of our legislators notorious inaction on this issue, I do not feel it is truly the best thing for the birds. Let me explain why.

1. The public supports a ban, so why should we ask for anything less? A 2001  poll conducted by Research & Polling, Inc. of Albuquerque showed that 81% of New Mexicans supported a cockfighting ban. The Albuquerque Journal, Santa Fe New Mexican, the Las Cruces Sun News, and other newspapers across the state have printed editorials endorsing a statewide ban on the blood sport.

2. The most effective way to endorse an activity is to regulate it. Restricting use of knives and gaffs without banning cockfighting as a whole sends the message that cockfighting is an acceptable activity. This only serves to preserve intentional animal cruelty and sets a dangerous precedent.

3. Weaponless cockfights are not cruelty-free. Roosters will still be injured for the sake of entertainment and profit. A rooster¹s natural spur will still tear into the flesh of an opponent. You also may be surprised to hear that cockers have defended their use of knives and gaffs, claiming the weapons make the fight quicker and thus more humane. I contend that organized cockfights are inhumane in any form.

4. Fighting roosters perpetuates violence in our community. Armed or not, violence is a central theme in animal fighting. What message is being sent to the children witnessing the fights? Or to the public that continues to allow these activities? The link between violence to animals and violence to humans is undeniable. A background check on any serious violent criminal will show a history of animal cruelty.

5. Cockfighting is organized crime. Cockers regularly flaunt the law. Illegal gambling is the norm in the pits. The Drug Enforcement Agency has linked cockfights to drug trafficking. What makes you think that the cockers will comply with a knife and gaff ban? Cockers are already trying to get around a federal law barring the interstate transport of fighting birds that will go into effect in the spring by pretending to hold poultry shows alongside the fights.

While you may see this as a reasonable compromise, I do not believe it will do anything to benefit the welfare of the roosters involved. At the same time, I fear it would create a fiction where weaponless cockfighting were considered humane by the public. For the reasons stated above, Animal Protection Voters and our sister organization, Animal Protection of New Mexico, would not support legislation to ban the use of weapons in cockfighting. It is time New Mexico catches up to the other 48 states that have banned this cruel sport.

D. B.  from Santa Fe, NM

-----

I am Sending my response to your latest column. Only a total ban will do for me. Barbaric and disgusting are two words to describe cockfighting. I will let others send you theirs.

Thanks again for being willing to put your feelings for animals in print.

L. L. from Tome`, NM

-----

I am against cockfighting in any form because:

1. Human boxers who enter the ring to brutalize each other are volunteers. Roosters fighting to kill each other, with or without drugs and steel spurs, are not volunteers. They have been trained and forced into the ring by their greedy owners;

2. Most of the money made at cockfights is made by illegal gambling. The State has known about this all along, and has turned a blind eye to it. It is time to stop it. Historically, illegal gambling is a vehicle for other crimes, much more harmful than the wagering;

3. It is not an activity exclusive to any indigenous culture in New Mexico. Cockfighting took place in almost every state in the Union. All but two of them are civilized enough to have outlawed it. New Mexico must enter the 21st century now.

4. Many activities which went the way of the dodo made a lot of money.  If that is our only criterion, then Roman gladiatorial "games", the selling of human beings as slaves, and bullfighting should be regular events in New Mexico.

5. People who want to feel tough by watching two roosters kill each other should strap on the knives themselves and jump into the ring. That would be tough!

A.  Z. from Embudo, NM

-----

Good afternoon,

Thank you for your support for the ban on cockfighting. It is a brutal practice that is prohibited in 48 of the 50 states, and I sincerely hope that New Mexico is not the last one to outlaw it.

Fortunately, Cibola County is one of the many parts of NM that has a local ban, but I and many others in the Grants area support a total statewide ban.

C. P. from Grants, NM

-----

Greetings and thank you for writing about cockfighting and asking for input. On the surface banning only the spurs and drugs used on birds would seem like a reasonable compromise but I don't think it would work. I think the people involved are generally lawless people and won't pay attention to regulation. Moreover the fish and game department can't even keep up with regulating hunters like they are supposed to now. Poachers get around the law all the time. A lot of people just claim ignorance of the law and get away with it. A complete ban enforceable by regular police and sheriff departments is the only workable solution.

Also, I think that watching and participating in such a cruel activity is not only bad for the birds, its bad for the human psyche. In the same way that pornography can ruin marriages, getting off on this violent sport feeds something base and barbaric in our nature that is better left unsatisfied. Also the families of the people who "throw away" money in this way suffer the loss they often cannot afford.

Cockfighting in any form doesn't make the world a better, kinder place and that is what we are sorely in need of now. It needs to go entirely.

M. R. - no location

-----

I support an outright ban on cockfighting. This is just one more New Mexican distinction (along with such other backward activities such as rattlesnake roundups) that places us in the "dark ages." Cruelty to humans follows right along with cruelty to animals and to think that children are witnessing and being indoctrinated in such cruelty is depressingly astounding. Oklahoma just banned this activity without having spasms about the poor people who will miss out on making money from it. Why can't we? If people simply must gamble, encourage them to do so inour many casinos. Simply "regulating" this activity really condones it. Let's just do away with it.

Thanks for listening.

S. R. - no location

-----

Your column is very interesting, and I read it every week. Like you, I am very much against cockfighting. How people can find this an amusing "sport" boggles my mind. I feel the same about bull fighting. Isn't it simply unbelievable how some individuals seem to enjoy torturing animals.  Your compromise seems decent and rather humane--kind of like boxers who get inthe ring and knock each other around. However, animals have no choice.

I teach elementary school and am going to have a discussion with my class about cockfighting, presenting the pros and cons. I'll have them write their opinions and send their letters to you.

P. B. from Albuquerque, NM

NOTE: When I get the letters from the children, I will certainly  put them on this page.  Children are our future and it is important that we listen to them occasionally.

-----

Thank you for addressing the issue of cockfighting. I also support a complete ban. I believe that it is a completely barbaric and senseless "sport". Regulating it is not the answer. The issue at hand is the welfare of the birds. Another living creature should not have to fight to the death for human entertainment and profit. Humans should be more civilized than this. I am ashamed that we are one of two states that still allow this horrific event to occur. What does it say about thepeople of New Mexico"?? I encourage our legislators to pass the bill to ban cockfighting in this state. Let us show the rest of the States that we too are civilized. Thank you for your time.

T. N. from Rio Rancho, NM

-----

In the opinion of this reader, cockfighting needs to be banned, period. Let us enter the 21st century in this state. Torturing animals for human amusement was all the rage in medieval times (see bear baiting, bull baiting, etc.) In fact, it is still considered a source of revenue and amusement in Third World countries. So maybe that's the problem, maybe New Mexico needs to get out of that Third World consciousness that we see all too often displayed here.

Let's not be so 'retro'. New Mexico is one of the few states in the nation where such an antiquated, inhumane idea is still legal. That should tell everyone something.

H. A. - no location

-----

Dear Mr. Fagerlund-- You asked, "If you are against cockfighting as I am, would you be willing to compromise if weapons and drugs were outlawed? If not, why not?"

I'm opposed to it. While the compromise you propose would be better than the current system of using drugs & gaffs, continuing cockfighting at all would continue the same lack of regulation we have now. How on earth has something that's banned become a $60 million/year business? 

How would we pay for the regulators to go and make sure cockfighting was being carried on without  the drugs & knives? I think it is far better that we ban it outright, and handle any further incidents of it as blatant animal cruelty, prosecuting it under the state animal cruelty law.

Thanks for giving this issue the airing it needs. 

A. H. - no location

-----

I am writing concerning the subject of Cockfighting. I really hope that the new session of the Legislature will enter the twenty-first century and ban this brutal activity. I cannot call it a sport in any shape or manner. Hopefully we will not be placed in the same category as the state of Louisiana. For once Mississippi is even ahead of us.

I have not heard one argument that would explain continuing with this barbaric practice. Monetary-well gosh ^Ö darn I guess slave sellers lost their means to make money in their business also. Cockfighting only offers an avenue for illegal activity and a release of too much pent-up testosterone. The birds should not have to suffer for this. I absolutely don't buy the argument that children that raise these birds are exemplary students. Teaching children more violence is unacceptable and I have no respect for any parent that would think otherwise.

I support a complete ban with no room for compromise. The only compromise I might accept is if some of the males of our species would strap on the knives and fight each other to a bloody end or until they needed to stop for a beer break.

L. B. - no location

-----

While seeking a compromise (i.e. banning the use of weapons and drugs) in the cockfighting issue may seem a reasonable action in most instances; it WILL NOT solve this barbaric problem and only excarebate it. First off, without the weapons, the fight would only take LONGER and theobservers would thus become bored, as humans always look for 'instant gratification'

Secondly, regulating the sport would seem as an 'endorsement' of it, while in fact, most New Mexicans are very much against cockfighting and wish to see it abolished.

Thirdly, there is not enough personnel in Fish & Wildlife to do their jobs now, much less add another venue of regulation to oversee. 

Lastly, it is illegal gambling and a zero tolerance to unlawful activities must always be adhered to, or all other laws will eventually be challenged too.

Thank you for your interest and interesting article.

S. C. from Ruidoso, NM

-----

 

Concerning cockfighting, I am opposed to anything other than a complete ban. I appreciate your bringing this subject up and hope that it shows people the truth about this horrible cruelty. These birds should not be bred to fight and drugged to entertain some heartless people. It needsto be banned. No regulations could make it allowable. The public supports a ban so our elected representatives should pay attention to them not the cockfighting lobbyists. Regulations would only be saying it is okay. That would not be taking away the cruelty. Cockfights areinhumane, period. New Mexico is one of only two states allowing this.

Doesn't this say something?

L.  M. from Hobbs, NM

-----

I'm against cock fighting period, It is so cruel and medieval, and as far as people actually making a living from this, portrays a person uneducated and violent, I get upset when people don't want to improve their situation and work like the rest of us, we are not immune to losing are jobs, so that excuse doesn't fly, and as a native New Mexican, my family never claimed this ignorance as a tradition, I would be ashamed to be associated with this.

The ban on cock fighting is long over due.

M. G. - no location 

-----

I want to be included in the list of New Mexicans vehemently opposed to the "sport" of cockfighting. I am 65 years old and a native New Mexican and I assure that cockfighting has never been part of my culture or any of my friends. I cannot believe that suck a barbaric act is allowed!  

K. O. from  Deming, NM

-----

I am in total opposition to cock fighting. There should be no quasi acceptance by allowing cock fights while outlawing the use of weapons or drugs. Those activities are already regulated and/or outlawed.  Cockfighting is another form of extreme cruelty to animals...and is a felony in this state, regardless of what kind of animal is being exploited -- what don't these cockfight promoters "get" about that?

Sue from Las Cruces, NM

-----

I am a resident of Las Cruces and was passed a message from some animal rights supporters here that you are looking for opinions regarding the issue of cockfighting. I would like to put my vote of "against cockfighting" in the hat of votes, if possible. I also have a question and I am not sure that you are the one to answer it for me, but here in Las Cruces, can residents house roosters in cages and breed/raise them for cockfighting? Is it illegal within the city limits? What about within the County of Dona Ana?

J. G. from Las Cruces, NM

-----

If you are against cockfighting as I am, would you be willing to compromise if weapons and drugs were outlawed?

No. Because just outlawing weapons and drugs would enable cockfighting to continue. There is no such thing as a non-brutal type of cockfight. Cocks still have their spurs, and when they fight, there is bound to be blood spilled, and most likely the death of one of them. We are only one of two states who haven't banned cockfighting yet. It's clear that the public wants a ban, but cockfighting interests with a lot of money and a warped view of a cruel "tradition", along with politicians who fear offending their constituencies and losing their jobs are keeping it going. It's a violent blood sport, weapons or not, and it sends the wrong message to kids, who get the idea  that violence is a recreational activity that is OK in our society. Also, drugs and illegal gambling are allowed to flourish alongside the cockfights. A ban is a no brainer, and nothing less than a ban is acceptable.

A. B. from Santa Fe, NM

Source:  http://www.fagerlund.addr.com/general_interest.htm

---