Oklahoma Legislature sees renewed efforts to change cockfighting laws

Yahoo

28-01-2025

The Oklahoma Legislature is seeing renewed efforts to reduce the penalties for cockfighting, a practice that is currently a felony in the state. A rooster is pictured in a pen in Arcadia on Oct. 13. (Photo by Janelle Stecklein/Oklahoma Voice)
OKLAHOMA CITY — Bills introduced by Oklahoma lawmakers seek to make changes to the state's cockfighting laws by reducing the penalties for participating or allowing robotic participation in the fights.
But opponents of cockfighting argue that reducing the penalty would send the wrong message to Oklahomans about the 'cruel' and 'outdated' form of entertainment. They said that voters in the state passed a ballot measure in 2002 making it a felony to own, possess, keep or train fowl with the intent of cockfighting and can carry a penalty of up to 10 years in prison and up to $25,000 in fines.
Rep. Justin Humphrey, R-Lane, authored House Bills 1313 and 1326, which respectively attempt to reduce the penalty for cockfighting to a misdemeanor and allow a fowl to fight a robot if the rooster is unharmed.
Cockfighting is the practice of forcing two roosters to fight each other, often to the death, for entertainment and regularly includes gambling on outcomes of the fights. The birds are bred and trained for the purpose of fighting.
'I'm not trying to legalize it,' Humphrey said. 'I'm trying to reduce it to a misdemeanor. We've reduced dangerous drugs that are killing people … to a misdemeanor, and yet raising a chicken is a felony that carries 10 years. That's complete stupidity.'
He sponsored a bill in 2024 that passed the House but was never heard in the Senate. It would have authorized voters to reduce violations relating to cockfighting to misdemeanors in each county.
Humphrey said it was a 'tough deal' to get his bill passed in the House last year, and these attempts will be more difficult to get support for than last year because of resistance from House leadership. He said he doesn't expect the bill allowing robots in cockfights to pass, but he wanted to start a conversation and plant the idea in the minds of Oklahomans.
Sen. Tom Woods, R-Westville, also proposed a cockfighting bill, Senate Bill 1111, which would reduce the penalty to a misdemeanor and alter the definitions of what it means to participate in cockfighting.
A first conviction would be a misdemeanor with a $500 fine. A second conviction would still be a misdemeanor, but with a penalty of up to a year in county jail, a fine of $2,500, or both. A third offense would bring the penalty to felony status with a two year sentence, a $5,000 fine, or both.
'This legislation creates options for law enforcement to prosecute this crime more than they are now,' Woods said in a statement. 'Currently, there are very few cases being prosecuted because of the level of penalty assessed with the crime and burden on law enforcement to take it to court. If passed, this will still be a crime with felony punishments attached to it while bringing more reasonable penalties into alignment for the offense.'
Brendan Hoover, a coordinator for the Kirkpatrick Policy Group, a nonprofit advocacy group focused on animals, arts, education and reproductive rights, said reducing the penalties for cockfighting sends a message that the crime 'isn't a big deal.'
Enforcement can be difficult, Hoover said, because one almost needs to be caught 'red-handed' in a building with fowl fighting to be charged.
Cockfighting has remained a felony since 2002 and the statute was unanimously upheld by the Oklahoma Supreme Court in 2004, but bills have been introduced time and time again attempting to reduce penalties or legalize the fights, he said.
'But the cockfighters, you know, they don't want to give up,' Hoover said. 'They think it's part of their heritage. They call it agriculture, you know, they say a lot of things to make it seem like it's OK and like it's accepted in Oklahoma, but it's not, it's animal cruelty. You're forcing animals to fight to the death, and you're betting on it for entertainment.'
Kevin Chambers, the Oklahoma state director of Animal Wellness Action, said he's witnessed many cockfights and called them a 'bloody mess' and 'horribly cruel.'
But he said he's also concerned about cockfighting spreading the bird flu. Over 100,000 birds have been euthanized in Oklahoma alone amid a current outbreak of the illness, he said.
'Cockfighting has been identified as a cause of the transmission for avian diseases because these birds are transported across state lines and even across the border with Mexico,' Chambers said. 'It's spreading avian diseases. Commercial flocks, they don't move them back and forth across the state lines all the time, but cockfighters do. They fight them and then they move the survivors back home to their state, and it's a perfect conduit for avian diseases.'
He said reducing the penalty for cockfighting would be an 'embarrassment' for Oklahoma and send the state backwards as all 50 states and U.S. territories have outlawed cockfighting.
The practice is still legal and popular in some Mexican states, parts of southeast Asia and the Philippines.
A 2023 poll of Oklahoma voters signaled that cockfighting remains unpopular in the state. Of the Oklahomans polled, over 70% believed cockfighting should remain a felony.
The National Sheriffs Association has also urged law enforcement to combat animal fighting, including cockfights.
The group said animal fights often have links to other criminal activity, such as organized crime, trafficking of narcotics, bribery of elected officials, illegal firearms, crimes against people, and more.
Humphrey said he has never been to a cockfight, but as a law enforcement officer he sees other crimes, like drug offenses, as more of a priority.
'If I had my choice, I can go over here and stop two chickens fighting, or I can go over here and I can bust somebody dealing heroin,' he said. 'I'm going after the heroin, not after the chickens.'
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