It's hard to believe that any American state in these times has only a measly $50 fine for a cockfighting conviction; it hardly serves as a deterrent. This is Alabama's present fine for this activity, nominally illegal. It constitutes a mere slap on the wrist and does not deter at all.
In the new legislative session, an anti-cockfighting bill sponsored by Republican Rep. Jim Barton, of Mobile, in the House and by Republican Sen. Cam Ward, of Alabaster, in the Senate will be filed. It calls for a fine of $6000 and a sentence of up to a year in jail.
This is a move in the right direction. Cockfighting is inhumane, and should be stopped. Gamecocks fight by pecking each other and raking with their claws; both can be severely hurt in a short amount of time, and one or both may have to be euthanized.
It would also help if newspapers in the state reported the names and publish the pictures of all arrested at these barbarous exhibits. Maybe that would serve as a social deterrent against this type of crime! After all, some communities publish the pictures of johns arrested for frequenting prostitutes.
Finally, I wonder if people should not consider the ethical issues regarding cockfighting. Is doing that not some example of sinning, to use an old-fashioned term?
It sounds like a good law. People who do cockfighting are seriously warped.
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