MDN.ORG:
Missouri Digital News
MDN.ORG
Mo. Digital News
Missouri Digital News
MDN.ORG:
Mo. Digital News
MDN.ORG:
Missouri Digital News
MDN.ORG:
Missouri Digital News
MDN.ORG
Mo. Digital News
Missouri Digital News
MDN.ORG:
Mo. Digital News
MDN.ORG:
Missouri Digital News
JEFFERSON CITY _ Imagine a boxing match where the fighters have blades tied to their fists instead of gloves.
That's the scenario hapless chickens face when they're thrust into cockfighting arenas across Missouri, said an investigator with the Humane Society of Missouri.
"These animals are pumped full of steroids and drugs to make them stronger than they should be," Curt Ransom said. "Sometimes a knife gets stuck into one of the birds and they have to pull them apart."
Said animal-welfare lobbyist Shirley Sostman: "They die a terrible death. They peck and stab each other to death."
Bills proposed in the Missouri House and Senate would restrict the fast-growing sport. If enacted, organizing cockfights, raising gamecocks or possessing paraphernalia such as blades would become a felony. Being a spectator at a cockfight would be a misdemeanor.
Only five states _ Missouri, Arizona, Louisiana, New Mexico and Oklahoma _ allow cockfighting.
"Why should the state sanction a cruel blood sport where human beings abuse animals for their own pleasure?" asked Rep. Patrick Dougherty, D-St. Louis and sponsor of the House bill.
But game-fowl breeders have lobbied successfully against a ban for 10 years since the state Supreme Court struck down an anti-cockfighting statute in 1985.
And with a long list of other bills pending in the House and Senate, there is little chance of passage this year either.
Phil Church of Ozark, Mo., represents the United Gamefowl Breeders Association in Missouri. He said a bird raised to fight lives a longer and happier existence than a chicken that ends up fried, broiled or grilled.
"My gamecocks get the very best treatment," Church said. "They have fresh air, fresh grass and fresh water. A broiler chicken lives 42 days, is force fed and doesn't see a blade of grass or a ray of sunlight. I've got three cocks that are nine years of age."
Moreover, Church noted that authorities euthanize birds seized in raids on cockfighting tournaments.
Enthusiasts claim the sport has existed for more than 3,000 years. Cockfighting legend holds that President Abraham Lincoln earned the nickname "Honest Abe" through his reputation as a fair judge of cockfights.
Cockfighting is a tradition in many families, Church said. "My grandfather had them and I'm 75 years old," he said.
Church said gamecocks in Missouri are neither drugged nor outfitted with blades. He also denied charges of widespread, illegal gambling at cockfighting tournaments.
"In Missouri, gambling is almost nonexistent," Church said. "At tournaments, there is a $50 entry fee and prizes are only $10 a fight. I'm just into it for the sport. It's just a hobby."
But the Humane Society's Ransom said gambling is the driving force behind cockfighting.
"It's an obvious thing," he said. "Why else would they do it? They don't go in there for the bragging rights."
The sport garnered national media attention last month when New York police arrested 296 fans in a Bronx raid on cockfighting's "Super Bowl." Authorities seized birds drugged with steroids, hallucinogens and painkillers.
And Sacramento, Calif., police found syringes, vitamins and 50 birds bred strictly for fighting in a recent bust.
"There is cockfighting in every state of the Union and it's going on in most counties of Missouri," Ransom said. "But in states where it's legal it's much more prevalent."
Church said a ban would not end cockfighting. The sport continues to grow although it is a felony to participate in 16 states.
"Did Prohibition kill drinking?" Church said.