Could We Call This The Way To Save Industries And To Protect Human Rights And Livelihoods?
State Senator Says Plan Would Save Gamefowl Industry
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ Roosters could be boxing in
Oklahoma under a plan by state Senator Frank Shurden.
Oklahoma voters
banned cockfighting in 2002 and since then Shurden has sought a way to continue
the gamefowl industry in the state. He says his search led him to Gamecock
Boxing Incorporated, which was formed to promote a form of cockfighting that
isn't deadly.
Gamecocks would wear sparring muffs, which are padded
gloves placed over the spurs on their feet. The score would be kept by
electronic sensors that record the number of hits by each rooster in the boxing
match.
Shurden is introducing legislation to create the Oklahoma
Pari-mutuel Gamecock Boxing Act and the Oklahoma Horse Racing Commission would
have jurisdiction over gamecock boxing.
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Source: Associated Press |
Source: http://www.kotv.com/main/home/stories.asp?whichpage=1&id=76727
Gamecock boxing plan proposed
OKLAHOMA CITY - A state senator has a plan for saving Oklahoma's gamefowl industry now that cockfighters are legally prohibited from pitting birds fitted with razor-like spurs.
State Sen. Frank Shurden, a longtime defender of cockfighting, is suggesting that roosters be given little boxing gloves so they can fight without bloodshed. The proposal is in a bill the Henryetta Democrat has introduced for the legislative session that begins Feb. 7.
"Who's going to object to chickens fighting like humans do? Everybody wins," Sen. Frank Shurden said.
Oklahoma voters banned cockfighting in 2002. The practice is still legal in Louisiana and New Mexico.
Removing the blood from the sport takes away the main argument animal rights groups have against cockfighting, Shurden said.
"Let the roosters do what they love to do without getting injured," Shurden said.
In his search for a new way to let gamecocks fight, Shurden learned about a California man who is an attorney for Gamecock Boxing Inc., which was formed to promote a nonlethal form of cockfighting.
"The company has a patent now pending on this game and the equipment designed to score the 'hits' of these sparring live gamefowl," Californian John R. Cogorno wrote in a letter to Shurden.
Shurden said electronic sensors can record the number of hits by each gamefowl to determine which rooster won the boxing match.
Gamecocks would wear sparring muffs, which are padded gloves placed over their natural spurs.
"To me it answers everything. It saves the industry, takes blood sport out and generates revenue for Oklahoma," Shurden said.
Janet Halliburton, an attorney who led the initiative petition drive to ban cockfighting, said, "What this is going to do is make a platform for him to continually try to amend the existing ban. They don't want electronic cockfighting any more than anybody else does, or they'd be doing it."
Shurden said he's not trying to amend the existing cockfighting ban, something he tried the past few years without success.
Shurden's legislation would create the Oklahoma Pari-mutuel Gamecock Boxing Act.
The Oklahoma Horse Racing Commission, which has jurisdiction over pari-mutuel horse racing, would have jurisdiction over this gamecock boxing.
Shurden believes it could be incorporated into horse racing, providing the boxing between horse races.
Some of the money earned from wagers on gamecock boxing matches would go to the state.
"I guarantee it would work," Shurden said of the nonlethal fighting of roosters.
January 27, 2005
AN American senator hopes to revive cockfighting in the
state of Oklahoma by putting tiny boxing gloves on the roosters instead of
razors. But State Senator Frank Shurden, a Democrat from Henryetta and a long-time
defender of cockfighting, said the ban had wiped out a $US100 million ($129
million) business.
To try to revive it, he has proposed that roosters wear little boxing gloves
attached to their spurs, as well as lightweight, chicken-sized vests configured
with electronic sensors to record hits and help keep score.
"It's like the fencing that you see on the Olympics, you know, where they
have little balls on the ends of the swords and the fencers wear vests," said
Senator Shurden. "That's the same application that would be applied to the
roosters."
Janet Halliburton, president of the Oklahoma Coalition Against Cockfighting,
which led the drive for the 2002 law, said Senator Shurden was really seeking to
loosen the ban.
"What this is going to do is make a platform for him to continually try
to amend the existing ban," Ms Halliburton told The Oklahoman newspaper.
The Oklahoma State Senate will consider Senator Shurden's proposal next
month. Source: http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,12066154%5E1702,00.html
The Oklahoma legislature outlawed the
blood sport in 2002 because of its cruelty to the roosters, which are slashed
and pecked to death while human spectators bet on the outcome.
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An illegal sport, often held in North Texas and Southern Oklahoma, might be getting a softer touch. An Oklahoma State Senator is proposing equipping boxing gloves on Roosters. But Senator Frank Shurden is suggesting that gamecocks could wear padded gloves on their feet. The score would be kept by electronic sensors in the gloves. Cockfighting was banned in Oklahoma back in 2002. |
Could We Call This The Way To Intolerance And Destruction Of Human Rights?
Thompson: Nationwide cockfight ban long overdue
by Tyler Thompson
Roosters are also strongly connected with the brutal sport of cockfighting. In ancient China, where cockfighting has its roots, emperors and commoners revered such fights as entertainment. In Western culture, cockfighting is said to date back to the ancient Greeks.
Today, cockfights are only legal in two U.S. states: New Mexico and Louisiana. Though many counties in New Mexico have banned the sport, it continues to thrive without opposing statewide legislation. Two weeks ago, police investigated a home in southern Phoenix containing more than 100 roosters. With a number already dead or wounded and with razors and steroids strewn about, there's little question that cockfighting extends beyond New Mexico's borders.
In Louisiana, the United Gamefowl Breeders Association, a national cockfighting group, estimates there are about 100,000 people who breed gamecocks and contend that Louisiana could lose $206 million in business if out-of-state cockfighters can't bring their birds there to fight.
Sunset, La., is home to the largest cockfighting pit in the United States. The arena has a glass-enclosed ring with about 600 surrounding seats for raucous fans.
Armed with sharp metal knives that measure up to 3 inches long and doped on drugs that clot their blood and intensify their aggression, two male roosters combat in a ring of betting spectators as they fight to the death. The birds pierce each other with sharp knives and fight through pain and injury until either they have killed their opponent or are dead.
During a cockfight, men bet, drink and watch roosters fight to a bloody death. There is no hunt. There is no mercy. There is no sport.
The victims aren't only the roosters, though, because the sport claims numerous casualties: Children are exposed to vicious displays of violence; grown men lose money in illegal gambling rings; humanity loses a little respect for the value of life.
Proponents of cockfights claim the sport is a part of their cultural heritage and integral to preserving traditions, but they fail to realize that some traditions become outdated and socially unacceptable. And while the fights certainly bring in a small amount of money to the states through tourism, the money is not worth the brutality against innocent animals.
Certainly, Cajuns and Hispanics from rural areas have been involved with roosters and cockfights for much of their lives and perceive them as a cultural tradition. And legislators must try to preserve respectable cultural traditions without alienating local customs. But cockfighting is simply not a respectable tradition.
In New Mexico and Louisiana, polls conducted by animal rights groups have shown the voters' strong desire to rid their respective states of cockfights. Polls have shown that 60 percent or more of the New Mexico electorate are in favor of a ban.
However, legislation failed to pass through the New Mexico Senate in 2003 despite overwhelming support for the measure in the New Mexico House of Representatives. Louisiana House of Representatives continually avoids passing a bill that would eliminate cockfights and have once again trapped bills to ban cockfights in committees.
The Year of the Rooster is a perfect time for state legislators to pass bills that would ban cockfighting. One danger, of course, is that cockfights could go underground. It has to be better, though -- to force cockfights into the dark where eventually they'll disappear -- than to have them shining under the spotlight.
It's time to wake up to the rooster.
Ty Thompson is a journalism sophomore. For information on how to help alleviate cockfighting, reach him at tyler.w.thompson@asu.edu.
House bill would make cockfighting a felony
Associated Press
COLUMBIA - People involved with cockfighting could face strict penalties under a House bill proposed on Tuesday.
The measure would make cockfighting a felony, punishable by a $5,000 fine or five years in prison -- parallel to laws against dogfighting.
For more than 100 years, cockfighting has been a misdemeanor, carrying a $100 fine or up to 30 days in jail. But prosecutors say it's not enough to deter participation in the sport in which two roosters wear steel blades on their legs and fight to the death.
"We must move swiftly to give this crime the serious status it deserves and send a message loud and clear that we will not tolerate cockfighting in our state," said House Speaker David Wilkins, a co-sponsor of the bill.
It's not clear how big the cockfighting industry is in South Carolina. However, the underground sport has been in the spotlight since the state's agriculture commissioner was charged after a federal crackdown on an Aiken cockfighting ring.
Last week, Charles Sharpe gave up his office and pleaded guilty to taking a $10,000 bribe to protect a cockfighting ring and lying to a federal officer.
"I've heard from a number of solicitors around the state who've told me cockfighting ... is much more prevalent in South Carolina than anybody thought it was," said bill co-sponsor and House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Harrison.
The activity is banned in every state except Louisiana and New Mexico, according to the Humane Society of the United States. It's a felony in 31 states and a misdemeanor in 17, including South Carolina.
House Agriculture Committee Chairman Billy Witherspoon, R-Conway, supports increased fines but said he doesn't think watching or participating in a cockfight should reach the level of a felony.
"That seems a little harsh to me," Witherspoon said. "There's a big difference between fighting dogs and fighting chickens."
State Attorney General Henry McMaster said the legislation also would help his quest to crack down on dogfighting as well.
The bill would allow law enforcement to seize property in the event of a violation of the Animal Fighting and Baiting Act.
McMaster said it gives an incentive for law enforcement officials to break up cockfighting rings because their departments could keep the property. "It's just exactly like the state drug laws," he said.
Steve Stephenson, an investigator with the Humane Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in the Midlands, said he sees the proposal for tougher penalties as a chance for law enforcement to focus on the problem.
"The $100 fine is so small that nobody wants to waste the man-hours," Stephenson said.
Animal advocates say they have fought for tougher penalties for years, but the cockfighting industry has paid lobbyists to protect major illegal gambling revenues as well as the high-dollar sales of fighting birds.
Stephenson pointed to Sharpe, who said in federal court he took the bribe to influence regulation that benefited cockfighting.
"It will be interesting to see who votes against this," Stephenson said.
Source: http://www.charlotte.com/mld/observer/news/local/states/south_carolina/counties/york/10735236.htm?1c
But Then WHEN Were The AR EVER Concerned About Intolerance And Destruction Of Human Rights?