Animal protection activists are targeting cock-fighting as well as dog-fighting in the state legislature. Senator Doug Jackson of Dickson has pushed a bill to increase the penalty for attending dogfights.
Now John Goodwin, an official of the U-S Humane Society, is arguing that Tennessee should increase the penalty for watching one rooster kill another.
“Specially bred roosters, bred for aggression, have either knives or ice-pick-like instruments called ‘gaffs’ strapped to their heels. Then they are pitted against one another and they fight to the death. The object is gambling. People want to gamble on which bird is going to slash and tear the other apart.”
A federal crackdown in East Tennessee two years ago uncovered a county sheriff who was allegedly shielding a large cockfight location. The sheriff resigned, but was never charged.
The Human Society’s Goodwin says the state needs to take the issue seriously.
“In June of 2005, when the Cocke County raid happened, there were 143 people arrested. Over half had come from out of state, largely from states like North Carolina and Georgia, which have stronger penalties for this type of crime. Tennessee has become a magnet for cock-fighting because of its weak penalties.”
Being a participant in such a blood sport is a felony, but most claimed they were only watching – a misdemeanor offense in the state. Goodwin says his bill would make attending a cockfight a felony.
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For the text of the bill, see HB 2142/SB 1733.
The bill is sponsored in the Senate by Senator Bill Ketron of Murfreesboro and in the House by Rep. Beverly Marrero of Memphis.
For a January wrapup by WVLT TV in Knoxville about the aftermath of the Cock County raid, see
http://www.volunteertv.com/home/headlines/5305222.html
The Senate has already passed SB 0537 Jackson/ HB 0548 (by Rep. David Shepard of Dickson) to increase the penalty for watching a dog fight from a Class C to a Class A misdemeanor.
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