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A Sport Most Foul A trio of stories from The New York Times in June 2000 reveals that brutal brawls between fighting birds are alive and well in the United States—not only in rural America, but also in enclaves of inner cities. Busts in two New York City boroughs, Brooklyn and the Bronx, resulted in hundreds of charges against individuals who breed gamecocks to fight and those who witness the fights and wager on them. In a dilapidated Bronx movie theater, 36 people were arrested and charged with “animal fighting,” a felony in New York. Another 154 were charged with a misdemeanor for watching the fights. By the time police rammed through the theater doors, sending gambling patrons scattering in all directions, including up to the theater roof, eight birds were already dead. Days later, armed agents with the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals raided a Brooklyn pet store, charging its owners, Jermias Nieves and his son David, with animal fighting and animal cruelty. The agents discovered a padded training room where roosters were trained to fight, breeding hens, thousands of dollars, and the barbaric weapons of battle. All of the live animals confiscated during these raids were euthanized. According to one Times story, a representative with the United Gamefowl Breeders Association estimates that cockfighting generates “hundreds of millions of dollars a year in sales of birds, medicines, feed, and breeding and fighting gear.” “Fighting gear” includes knives and sharp metal spurs affixed to the roosters’ claws to maximize injuries, including punctured lungs, broken bones, pierced eyes and a variety of fatal lacerations. “Medicines” include drugs such as “Strychly Speed” (strychnine) and “Pure Aggression,” stimulants used to enhance the birds’ fighting prowess. Only three states still allow legal cockfighting: Louisiana, New Mexico, and Oklahoma. Pending federal legislation would close a loophole that allows fighting birds to be transported to states where cockfighting is legal (see AWI Quarterly, Spring 1999, “Anti-Cockfighting Bill Introduced in Congress”). Colorado Senator Wayne Allard authored the Senate bill, S. 345, which has amassed 58 cosponsors. It was approved in Committee on March 2, 2000 and awaits floor consideration. The House companion bill, H.R. 1275, has 185 cosponsors. But, according to The Washington Post, further consideration of the bill by the full Senate will be difficult, despite widespread bipartisan support. Two former Senators, Steve Symms of Idaho and J. Bennett Johnston of Louisiana, are receiving as much as $185,000 to lobby against the bill. According to the Post, both “have close ties to powerful lawmakers such as Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott.” Perhaps consideration of the cockfighting bill would help define whether or not this Congress is truly compassionate.
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