![]() ![]() |
Animal Defenders of Westchester |
|
![]()
Home Page We advocate on all animal protection and exploitation issues, including experimentation, factory farming, rodeos, breeders and traveling animal acts. Animal Defenders of Westchester |
Campaigns Cockfighting Fact Sheet: (From Peta) Give Roosters Something to Crow About�an End to Cockfighting Roosters
raised for fighting are often confined to tiny cages and tormented to make
them aggressive. Cockfighters feed �gamecocks� a steady diet of stimulants
and blood clotting drugs and attach razor sharp spurs to the birds� feet to
make fights more �exciting� (i.e., bloody). The birds suffer broken wings
and legs, punctured lungs, severed spinal cords, and gouged out eyes. The
�lucky� ones die; the survivors are fought again. There is no �victory� for
fighting cocks. Although cockfighting is illegal in all but two states�Louisiana and New
Mexico�illegal cockfighting is rampant throughout the United States.
Thousands of birds are forced to fight to the death every year. Many
Hispanic-Americans and Filipino-Americans, whose cultures still tolerate
cockfighting, breed and fight roosters, but cockfighting is not limited to
these groups by any means. It is a bustling underworld industry, complete
with magazines, training paraphernalia like sharp spurs, and Web sites. Gambling and firearms are the norm at cockfights because of the large
amounts of cash present. Law-enforcement officials have also documented a
connection between cockfighting and the distribution of illegal drugs. Young
children are often present at cockfights; exposure to such violence can
promote an insensitivity to animal suffering and an enthusiasm for violence.
The violence in cockfighting has been associated with other kinds of
violence, including homicides. Tradition is no excuse for cruelty, and as more and more people realize
how barbaric this so-called �heritage� is, it will be outlawed completely.
The U.S. Congress has passed legislation to ban the interstate transport of
roosters for cockfights that will go into effect in 2003. Oklahoma just voted to outlaw cockfighting, making Oklahoma the 48th
state to ban the cruel practice. Oklahoma Governor Frank Keating, in
endorsing the bill to ban the �sport,� stated, �Cockfighting is cruel; it
promotes illegal gambling and it is simply embarrassing to Oklahoma to be
seen as one of only a tiny handful of locations outside of the Third World
where this activity is legal.� Click here to see undercover photographs of cockfights, taken by the
Humane Society of the United States:
http://www.animalchannel.org/flash-files/new_photos9.html
. Click here to see photographs and articles about cockfighting from United
Poultry Concerns:
http://www.upc-online.org/cockfighting/ . To read about cruel cockfights taking place in Louisiana, please visit
http://www.timesofacadiana.com/html/6F337BBC-8D70-48D9-A22C-62DA8E11E600.shtml
. Fair Use Notice: This document may contain
copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the
copyright owners. We believe that this not-for-profit, educational use on
the Web constitutes a fair use of the copyrighted material (as provided for
in section 107 of the US Copyright Law). If you wish to use this copyrighted
material for purposes of your own that go beyond fair use, you must obtain
permission from the copyright owner.
|
Your comments and
inquiries are welcome
(d-6)
This site is hosted and maintained by:
The Mary T. and Frank L. Hoffman Family Foundation
Thank you for visiting all-creatures.org.
Since