'Cockfighting capital' of US? Oklahoma bill to ease penalties draws attack from activists

Animal rights activists are again fighting a bill filed in Oklahoma that would decriminalize cockfighting and are criticizing authorities for not doing more to stop the events at home and abroad.

House Bill 2530, introduced this year by state Rep. Justin Humphrey, R-Lane, would legalize the fights as long as the roosters aren't wearing weapons and would reduce the penalty for being involved in weaponized fights from a felony to a misdemeanor carrying simple fines.

Lane's measure, reintroduced this year after failing to make it into law a year ago, prompted Animal Wellness Action (AWA), other activists, longtime veterinarians and former Oklahoma Attorney General Drew Edmondson to hold a virtual news conference Thursday.

"Sadly, we believe Oklahoma is the cockfighting capital of the United States," said Wayne Pacelle, AWA's president, during the conference.

VIEWPOINT: Cockfighting is barbaric. It would be embarrassment for Oklahoma to legalize it

Pacelle and others say cockfighting remains a problem despite Oklahoma voters' approval more than 20 years ago to add a law that makes it criminal to hold, participate in or witness a cockfighting derby.

They also accused numerous Oklahomans of violating federal law by raising and then shipping roosters for fights in Mexico, the Philippines, Vietnam and Guam.

AWA and other organizations line out those accusations in an 87-page report that includes links to videos and social media posts quoting Oklahomans stating they raised roosters to sell to other cockfighters or had fought birds in derbies themselves.

Finally, Pacelle and other activists argued Thursday that changing the law would raise health threats to birds raised through legal commercial poultry operations.

“By allowing a massive cockfighting industry to flourish in Oklahoma, the state is putting the enormous numberof commercial poultry operations in eastern Oklahoma and western Arkansas at risk,” said Jim Keen, director of veterinary sciences for the Center for a Humane Economy.

Activists: Records show thousands of birds exported from state

AWA claims Oklahomans since 2019 have shipped 5,143 roosters to Guam, where derbies are routinely held.

Tom Pool, a former territorial veterinarian with Guam's Department of Agriculture who now serves as the senior veterinarian with the Center for a Humane Economy, said federal law prohibits Americans from shipping birds across state lines or out of the country when those animals are destined to be used in fights.

While Pool repeatedly refused to sign permits allowing for the birds' importations into Guam, he routinely was overruled by his superiors, he said Thursday.

"The only reason the birds are coming here is to fight," Pool said.

AWA claims laws are being ignored in Oklahoma, too, something Edmondson said bothers him.

"It is humiliating as an Oklahoman and distressing to someone like me who has been involved in law enforcement for 10 years as a district attorney and 16 years as attorney general to see this kind of blatant law violation going on in my home state," said Edmondson.

"That is a breach of law enforcement, and when law enforcement is corrupted, respect for law enforcement goes down. That is not a situation we like in the state of Oklahoma," Edmondson said.

Cockfighting ban approved by voters repeatedly attacked

Oklahoma voters outlawed cockfighting in 2002, but legal challenges prevented its enforcement until 2004 after the U.S. Supreme Court let the Oklahoma Supreme Court's decision affirming the law stand.

The law prohibiting cockfighting allows for felony prosecutions against alleged participants and allows for misdemeanor prosecutions of people who are caught attending fights as spectators.

But what voters approved through State Question 687 was just a statute, meaning it could be amended or repealed by Oklahoma's Legislature.

In previous years, certain members of Oklahoma's Legislature have tried to change the voter-approved law by introducing bills that would have reduced penalties, legalized derbies in cases where animals were equipped with special gloves or would have enabled voters to reconsider the issue on a county-by-county basis.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma activists attack effort to weaken penalties for cockfighting