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 photographs and articles about cockfighting from United Poultry Concerns: http://www.upc-online.org/cockfighting.