Caddo Sheriff Steve Prator's recent enforcement of a parish law that prohibits cockfighting is facing a potential legal challenge on whether state law that makes the activity legal supersedes parish and moral objections to the sport.

Earlier this week, Prator received a letter from Shreveport lawyer Charles Salley accusing the sheriff of "unconstitutional deprivation of property rights' for preventing a lawful business. Salley's letter indicates he represents the owners of two north Caddo cockfighting pits.

The pits were shut down last month by the sheriff based on a parish law that prohibits cockfighting.

"We're not taking sides over the morality of the issue,' Prator said. "As sheriff, I'm sworn to uphold all the laws. And that's a law to be enforced: There shall be no cockfighting.'

Salley did not return calls from The Times on Friday. However, his letter to the sheriff states deputies "do not have the power' to prevent the pits from conducting their cockfighting meets.

Cockfighting is legal in Louisiana and New Mexico. In the centuries-old activity, fighting roosters - outfitted with blades on their heels - are placed in a ring to slash at each other while spectators often bet on the outcome. The loser of the fight often dies.

In 1987, Caddo adopted an animal control law that prohibits cruelty to animals. Based on the wording of the law, cockfighting is illegal.

"It wasn't until I became sheriff that I realized cockfights existed and had for many years in Caddo Parish,' Prator said.

When he started receiving complaints, Prator had his deputies investigate.

"We monitored the activity, actually went undercover to see if any illegal activity was occurring. In the process of our investigation is when we discovered that the whole activity was illegal.'

Prator's deputies shut down Piney Woods just outside Vivian and Ark-La-Tex Game Club near Ida. Deputies have been stationed outside the clubs to prohibit entry, Prator said.

Cockfighting is considered a billion-dollar-a-year industry.

"This is going to hurt us quite a bit,' said Sam Curry, a businessman and former Vivian alderman.

Curry supports cockfights but sees the activity more as a revenue generator for the financially strapped rural town of about 2,500 people. "I don't have a problem with it.'

Vivian hotels are filled by visitors from Texas, Arkansas and Oklahoma when cockfights are held, he said.

"They were having them about twice a month. And whenever it was going on, there'd be 300 to 400 people come to Vivian,' Curry said. "They stay at the motels, eat at our restaurants, shop at the package stores and gas stations. They all made money off of it.'

Grover Elrod, who breeds and raises gamecocks in DeSoto Parish, called the sheriff a pawn caught between animal rights activists and a law that, until November, "nobody knew even existed.'

"We showed up to fight this year like we have every other year and the sheriff said, 'Nope, you can't fight no more,'' he said. "We were shut down in prime season.'

The cockfighting season runs from November to June, Elrod said.

"Animal rights activists have taken this too far. If you had a herd of cattle and someone came in and said you can't slaughter that cow to eat because it's cruel, what would you do?' he said. "These are wild fowl, they're not chickens. Just because they crow and lay eggs and cackle doesn't mean they're a chicken. They're wild birds, and fighting is all they know, all they're good for and that's all they'll ever do. That's what people can't seem to grasp.'

Elrod scoffs at accusations that cockfighting is a cruel and barbaric sport.

"How do you call what an animal does naturally cruel?' he said. "If they're naturally going to fight to the death with their natural spurs, how is that cruel? All we're doing is putting weapons on them and making it happen a little faster. What's the difference? The outcome is just the same. They're going to kill each other. You're not going to stop it.'

The sheriff's actions are supported by the Humane Society of the United States, which has 60,000 members in Louisiana.

"We consider cockfighting a barbaric and gruesome activity that should be outlawed in every jurisdiction in the United States,' said Wayne Pacelle, senior vice president of the Washington, D.C.-based society. "We're delighted that Caddo Parish has a prohibition on this inhumane activity, and we strongly support the sheriff's action to support the existing law.'

State Sen.-elect Lydia Jackson said Friday she has contacted the legislative staff to research the state's cockfighting laws. She hopes to hear back within the next couple of weeks.

"Clearly, there seems to be some conflict between the parish ordinance and the state law. I know the sheriff is acting consistent with the parish ordinance,' she said. "I know, particularly in some parts of the state, this activity has certainly been a long-standing part of the culture.'

Asked her political preference, Jackson said she was unable to say whether she supports or opposes cockfighting.

"I'm not familiar with the events and never attended one. I know there are a lot of concerns about cruelty issues. I'm just in a learning mode about this.'

Caddo Commissioner Jim Morris, who represents north Caddo, said cockfighting in his district "has been going on for years. It's not a big secret.'

However, Morris said, there are no plans to seek a revision to the parish law to make cockfighting legal. He is receiving complaint calls about the sheriff's action from people who cockfight.

"I'd have to look at both sides of this issue,' he said when asked where he stands on cockfighting. "I'm not prepared to say which side I'm on at this time.'

State law prohibits cockfights in Louisiana unless they involve Louisiana roosters. Prator said his deputies recently turned around a truckload of roosters from Texas that was bound for a nearby cockfighting pit. Crossing state lines makes it a federal crime, albeit a misdemeanor, but federal authorities were notified, Prator said.

Unless told otherwise by a judge, the sheriff said he will continue enforcing the parish law.

"I'm not leaning either way. If they change the law, that's fine. Let them have a big ol' time," Prator said.

"I usually say I don't have a dog in this hunt. But I don't have a cock in this fight.'

Comparing laws in neighbor states

Here's a look at Louisiana's cockfighting law compared to neighboring states'.

Arkansas: misdemeanor; possession of cocks for fighting, legal; spectator at a cockfight, legal; possession of implements, legal.

Louisiana: legal; possession of cocks for fighting, legal; spectator at a cockfight, legal; possession of implements, legal.

Mississippi: misdemeanor; possession of cocks for fighting, legal; spectator at a cockfight, legal; possession of implements, legal.

Texas: felony; possession of cocks for fighting, legal; spectator at a cockfight, legal; possession of implements, legal.