SB175 made it out of committee with one no vote (Marc Keahey, in case you care). The Felony charges were dropped in an amendment to mollify the folks who feel like our jails are full enough.
If you called or emailed, thank you.
The knowledge that I won’t write about cockfighting anymore if the thing passes is probably motivational.
In Alabama, cockfighting is a misdemeanor.
This is me luring you back in with a cute chicken picture. Read the rest.
Folks strap knives to roosters’ feet and let them have at each other. They gamble for thousands of dollars. They bring illegal drugs. They bring their children. If they are caught and convicted, folks are fined a maximum of $50.
That’s the price of inhumanity in Alabama: $50. This is the weakest penalty in the entire United States for an evening of cruelty.
Undercover video anyone? This article from Mobile has the story in print (there is video too but sometimes it’s better to read than watch). And here is the most recent spot featuring Senator Cam Ward, the bill’s sponsor in the senate.
There are two bills in the legislature this year that will strengthen the penalties for a cockfighting conviction in Alabama. The bills call for an increase to class A misdemeanor for the first offense (fine of $6,000 – spectators included) and a class C Felony for the second. Anyone who causes a minor to attend faces class C Felony charges.
If you are in Alabama, find your state representative and senator and send them a quick email about the need for HB176 and SB175 to make it out of committee and the importance of a favorable vote when they do.
If you aren’t in Alabama, send a quick email to the bill sponsors, Representative Jim Barton (jbarton104@gmail.com) and Senator Cam Ward (camjulward@aol.com), to let them know that there is support outside of the state. You should also feel free to email the committee members (I’ve got a list) and let them know that folks outside Alabama would like to see a stop to animal cruelty.
As an extra bonus: if the bills pass, I’ll stop talking about it.
You can tell a lot about a person by how they treat animals.
Alabama has the weakest cockfighting laws in the nation. There is a $50 fine if caught. That’s a parking ticket. Dinner for four. Alabama is one of only 13 states where cockfighting isn’t a felony. One of those 13 states isn’t Louisiana. One of those 13 states isn’t Georgia. For a good time, “sportsmen” from Louisiana and Georgia come here.
In case you don’t know:
“In a cockfight, two roosters fight each other to the death while people place bets. Cockfighters let the birds suffer untreated injuries or throw the birds away like trash afterwards. Besides being cruel, cockfighting often goes hand in hand with gambling, drug dealing, illegal gun sales and murder. Left to themselves, roosters almost never hurt each other badly. In cockfights, on the other hand, the birds often wear razor-sharp blades on their legs and get injuries like punctured lungs, broken bones and pierced eyes—when they even survive.”
–the Humane Society of the United States
Does that strike you as something deserving of a $50 fine? The price of a concert ticket. A night at the movies.
The federal government doesn’t think so. Cockfighting is punishable by up to three years in jail and a fine of up to $250,000 if perpetrators buy, sell or transport an animal used for fighting across state lines.
So what’s your problem, Alabama? Once AGAIN a bill to stiffen the penalties for cockfighting in Alabama has made it out of committee. Once AGAIN the cockfighting lobby (Do you get to have a lobby for something that is ALREADY ILLEGAL?) is making an effort to keep the bill from coming to a vote. Since a good chunk of Alabama’s legislators are cowards, they may succeed again. No one wants to vote against the bill because then they are the “Cockfighting Senator” and no one wants to vote for it because “that nice young man who watches roosters murder each other brought me a muffin basket.” Or maybe they enjoy a cockfight every now and then themselves.
This is not OK. And you don’t have to live here to tell them so. Last time the bill was up, cockfighters from Georgia called the Alabama statehouse to have them kill the bill. All’s fair. I’ve made it easy for you: at the end of this post, there is a list of the state representatives who are blocking the vote, their districts, and how to contact them by email. Do me a favor. Tell them to suck it up and vote. Tell them the world is watching. Tell them 2009 poll of Alabama voters, 82% favored stronger penalties and believed cockfighting is cruel and inhumane.
Never be afraid to do what’s right, especially if the well-being of a person or animal is at stake. Society’s punishments are small compared to the wounds we inflict on our soul when we look the other way.
– Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
The 32 names that follow are the 32 representatives that asked the Speaker of the House to not let the bill be heard.
Representative Jim Barton was courageous enough to sponsor HB74. jbarton104@gmail.com