NEW ORLEANS - The federal government says Cajuns and Hispanics are not discriminated against by new laws that tighten the noose on the $1 billion-a-year cockfighting industry.
U.S. attorneys filed papers last week defending laws that allow authorities to punish people who ship fighting birds across state lines or out of the country.
The United Gamefowl Breeders Association, a national cockfighting group, sued the government last May. The group is arguing that the laws trample on the rights of New Mexico and Louisiana - the last two states where cockfighting is legal - and discriminate against people from cultures that accept cockfighting.
U.S. District Judge Rebecca F. Doherty in Lafayette has not heard arguments in the case, which is considered a serious legal challenge by animal rights advocates.
The suit takes issue with amendments Congress attached in 2002 to the Animal Welfare Act that make it a crime punishable by up to $15,000 in fines and one year in jail to ship any fighting rooster from one state to another or to a foreign country. The new laws went into effect last May.
The suit asks Doherty to throw out the laws, saying they are unconstitutional.
The plaintiffs contend that Louisiana stands to lose $206 million in business as out-of-state cockfighters will not be allowed to bring their birds to the state to fight.
The plaintiffs also allege that the new laws discriminate against people from cultures where cockfighting is an integral part of life - such as Cajuns, Hispanics, Filipinos and Japanese.
Lawmakers passed the laws "to close a loophole," not discriminate against people, the government argues.
The old laws, the government's brief states, allowed cockfighters to "elude prosecution in states where the practice is illegal by claiming that they are raising fighting birds for shipment to states where it is legal."
"This loophole, Congress found, undermined and compromised the ability of the federal government ... from enforcing laws against cockfighting," the brief states.
The new laws do not trample on states' rights because the shipment of birds is a commercial practice that can be regulated by Congress, the government's brief contends.
"We say the federal law doesn't stop cockfighting in Louisiana," said Wayne Pacelle, senior vice president of the Humane Society. "All that this federal law does is ban shipping your bird to another state or another country and it bars people from bringing their fighting birds into Louisiana."
Cockfighters also charge that the laws should be thrown out because lawmakers did not hold hearings on them, which deprived the defendants the benefit of "legislative due process."
The government's brief says that Congress is not obligated to give people "legislative due process." It adds that even if Congress were obligated to do so, lawmakers have scrutinized cockfighting since 1974, generating about 200 pages of findings and testimony from over three dozen witnesses.
"Congress discussed and deliberated on this issue for three years before passing it. It was a hot issue for what is generally considered a small issue on the national stage," Pacelle said about the new laws.
The cockfighting industry, already pummeled by a move
to make the blood sport a felony in some states, could see its profits seriously
damaged by the new laws. Cockfighters estimate that there are about 100,000
people who breed fighting birds in the United States.
Copyright Associated
Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast,
rewritten, or redistributed.
Source: http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/apnews/stories/012604/D80ALRDO1.shtml
Oklahoma SB 1130
STATE OF OKLAHOMA
2nd Session of the 49th Legislature (2004)
AS INTRODUCED
An Act relating to animals; creating the Dog and Cat Ownership Responsibility Act; providing short title; stating responsibility of dog and cat ownership; defining terms; requiring certain animals of a certain age to be neutered or spayed; providing exceptions; specifying type and cost of certain licenses; requiring disclosure of permit or license number; setting fine and penalty; requiring the State Department of Health to promulgate rules; authorizing the Department to contract with certain persons to issue licenses; providing for apportionment of revenue; providing for codification; and providing an effective date.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA:
SECTION . NEW LAW A new section of law to be codified in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 499.11 of Title 4, unless there is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows:
This act shall be known and may be cited as the "Dog and Cat Ownership Responsibility Act".
SECTION . NEW LAW A new section of law to be codified in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 499.12 of Title 4, unless there is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows:
For the purposes of this act, "Dog and Cat Ownership Responsibility" means responsible pet ownership by discouraging breeding, reducing pet over-population by encouraging spaying or neutering of pets, and ensuring that each cat and dog born in the State of Oklahoma has a good and permanent home.
SECTION . NEW LAW A new section of law to be codified in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 499.13 of Title 4, unless there is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows:
As used in the Dog and Cat Ownership Responsibility Act:
1. "Domestic animal" means a dog or cat;
2. "Person" means any individual person, partnership, or corporation;
3. "Neutered" means to have nonfunctioning generative organs and includes a female who is spayed;
4. "Veterinary exemption" means any exemption from spaying or neutering when, in the opinion of an Oklahoma-licensed veterinarian, the animal's health prevents the operation from being done safely; and
5. "License for breeding" means a written authorization, issued annually by the State Department of Health, giving the holder permission to breed a dog or cat.
SECTION . NEW LAW A new section of law to be codified in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 499.14 of Title 4, unless there is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows:
A. It shall be unlawful for any person to own, harbor, or keep a female dog or cat over the age of four (4) months or a male dog or cat over the age of six (6) months within the State of Oklahoma who has not been neutered, unless such person holds a license for breeding cats and dogs issued by the State Department of Health.
B. The following shall be exempt from the provisions of this act:
1. Domestic animals determined by a licensed veterinarian unsuited to undergo surgical procedure; and
2. Animals under the care of governmental and animal control agencies, 501(c)(3) nonprofit animal rescue organizations, and humane societies for the prevention of cruelty to animals as provided for in the Dog and Cat Sterilization Act.
SECTION . NEW LAW A new section of law to be codified in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 499.15 of Title 4, unless there is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows:
The license for breeding referred to in Section 3 of this act shall be called the "Intact/Breeding/Sale License or Permit". There shall be three (3) classes of licenses as described below:
1. "Intact license" means a license or permit authorizing the holder to possess any dog or cat that has not been neutered or spayed. The cost per animal shall be One Hundred Dollars ($100.00) per year;
2. "Noncommercial breeders license" means a license or permit authorizing the holder to possess a dog or cat which produces a single litter, whether intentional or unintentional and has no more than three (3) licensed animals per household per year. The cost per animal shall be One Hundred Dollars ($100.00) per year; and
3. "Commercial breeders license" means a license or permit authorizing the holder to possess a dog or cat which has more than a single litter per licensed animal per year. The cost per location shall be One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00) per year.
SECTION . NEW LAW A new section of law to be codified in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 499.16 of Title 4, unless there is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows:
A. Any holder of a breeding permit who advertises to the public the availability of any dog or cat for sale, adoption or transfer, whether for compensation or otherwise, must prominently display the permit or license number on any such advertisement and on any receipt of sale or transfer document.
B. Commercial establishments selling Oklahoma-bred dogs or cats shall prominently display permit numbers of the breeders whose dogs and cats are sold in such establishments.
C. All licensed breeders shall be required to provide to the buyer of any dog or cat the following notice: "It is state law to have such dog or cat neutered or spayed on or before age four (4) months for females and six (6) months for males or the buyer must purchase an intact license, noncommercial breeders license, or a commercial breeders license."
D. Any person found guilty of violating any of the provisions of this act shall be subject to a fine of Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00) or six (6) months in jail or both and litter/litters found in possession of such person shall be forfeited to the appropriate animal control or law enforcement language.
SECTION . NEW LAW A new section of law to be codified in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 499.17 of Title 4, unless there is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows:
A. The State Department of Health shall promulgate rules for the issuance of licenses as required by this act.
B. The Department shall contract with motor license agents for the purpose of issuing such licenses. All revenue derived pursuant to the provisions of Section 5 of this act shall be apportioned as follows:
1. For all intact licenses and noncommercial breeders licenses, Five Dollars ($5.00) to the motor license agent, Twenty-five Dollars ($25.00) to the State Department of Health, Twenty Dollars ($20.00) to the county law enforcement agency in which the animal is licensed, and Fifty Dollars ($50.00) to the municipality or town in which the animal is licensed; and
2. For all commercial breeders licenses, Fifty Dollars ($50.00) to the motor license agent, Two Hundred Fifty Dollars ($250.00) to the State Department of Health, Two Hundred Dollars ($200.00) to the county law enforcement agency in which the animal is licensed, and Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00) to the municipality or town in which the animal is licensed.
SECTION . This act shall become effective November 1, 2004.
Courtesy: Karen S.
Source http://www.lsb.state.ok.us/2003-04sb/sb1130_int.rtf
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Bangkok Post News - BIRD FLU CRISIS
Chiang Mai toddler admitted to hospital
Post reporters
Cockfighting has been banned in the city's Nong Chok district,
for fear of bird flu.
Siriwan Chanhong, deputy director of Nong Chok
District Office, said Nong Chok and Min Buri districts had been declared risk
areas. The ban was aimed at protecting spectators from possible infection if the
virus continued to spread.
Samples would be taken from Klong Saen Saeb
and Klong 13 and 14 in Nong Chok today for testing, after some poultry farmers
were found to have dumped fowl carcasses in the water upstream.
In Chiang
Mai, a one-year-old girl whose parents raise chickens in Chomthong district was
admitted to district hospital yesterday with flu-like symptoms including
infected lungs and breathing difficulties.
Chickens in the family's barn
had died a few days before the girl fell ill.
Authorities in the North
and Northeast were on alert amid reports of poultry deaths with symptoms similar
to bird flu.
In Nong Khai, farmers were told to destroy fighting cocks
after many birds died with flu-like symptoms.
Sathien Meeboon, kamnan of
tambon Panprao in Si Chiang Mai district, said his farm had been losing 50-60
fighting cocks a day since Jan 19 and nearby farms were facing the same
problem.
It was the worst outbreak of disease in his 40 years of farming.
Losses were estimated at more than two million baht.
Compensation from
the state could not match the prices of those expensive fighting cocks, Mr
Sathien said.
Thongpoon Kaeopet, a Nong Khai livestock official, said
samples of dead cocks had been sent to a laboratory but the results were not
available yet.
He suggested farmers cull all the chickens because the
dead cocks showed symptoms similar to bird flu.
In Kanchanaburi, mass
culls took place in Phanom Thuan district yesterday, involving more than 200
border patrol police and local officials. More than 200,000 chickens and ducks
were killed in 27 villages.
More than 78,000 chickens on five farms in
Lao Khwan and Nong Prue districts of Kanchanaburi were also killed.
Local
farmers say they face huge losses despite promised compensation of 40 baht per
dead chicken from the state. They want at least 50 baht per
chicken.
Chiang Mai governor Suwat Tantipat said more than 10,000 quail
were destroyed in Saraphi district following a report of suspicious deaths at a
farm.
The province was waiting for test results.
He said there
were no bird flu cases in the province. However the sale of poultry had dropped
dramatically in the wake of the scare.
In Surat Thani, more than 100 duck
carcasses were found in a canal in Ban Nong Chik of tambon Takian Thong in
Kanchanadit district.
However, since all the carcasses were rotten,
samples could not be taken for a test, a livestock official said.
Random
checks had been conducted in chicken and duck farms, he said.