Thread: Cockfighting's 'cultural tradition' kept alive in USA

Cockfighting's 'cultural tradition' kept alive in USA
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/200 ... htm?csp=34

Posted 1/22/2007 10:18 PM ET
By Emily Bazar, USA TODAY

Immigration has helped fuel the popularity of cockfighting, a common practice in some countries that is illegal in most of the USA .

Statistics are hard to come by, but law enforcement officials and animal rights groups in places such as Denver , Houston and Santa Barbara County , Calif. , say they've seen a surge. Others question whether there's just more attention on the activity because police are cracking down.

Cockfighting is illegal in every state except Louisiana and New Mexico .

"It's definitely on the rise," says Wayne Pacelle , head of the Humane Society of the United States . Pacelle says the Internet has helped connect cockfighters. He also cites increased involvement of immigrants from countries such as Mexico and the Philippines . "It's legal in a lot of places where there's significant immigration to the United States ," he says. "You're seeing participation from people of those nations."

Mark Kumpf of the National Animal Control Association acknowledges there can be a cultural link. He doesn't think cockfighting is on the rise, though. What's up, he says, is enforcement.

Police are aggressively busting cockfighting operations, from fights to bird smuggling, because crimes such as drug dealing, assault and gambling often are associated, he says.

On Sunday, authorities raided a cockfight in Boydton , Va. Mecklenburg County Sheriff Danny Fox says 122 people were cited for violating the state's ban, 22 were arrested by Homeland Security officials and accused of being in the country illegally, and 126 birds were seized.

Bird flu fear

Kumpf says authorities also are motivated by concerns that cockfighting may contribute to the spread of bird flu. In Asia , it is suspected in some cases of spreading bird flu to humans, and, through smuggling, from country to country, the World Health Organization says.

In cockfighting, razor blades or sharp metal spurs called gaffs are strapped to the legs of specially bred roosters. Spectators place bets and watch the birds battle, often to the death.

U.S. Rep. Elton Gallegly, R-Calif., says fear of bird flu is one reason he is sponsoring a bill that would make it a felony to transport a bird or animal across state or national borders for fighting. It also would prohibit interstate and foreign commerce in cockfighting implements such as gaffs.

In Denver , the number of informal backyard fights is up, says Doug Kelley, director of the Division of Animal Care and Control. "It's normally a couple of households getting together for what they think of as a friendly competition," he says.

Animal control officer James Lopez says the practice is especially popular in Denver 's Mexican community. "It's legal in Mexico , so a lot of people come up here and feel they should be able to do it here, too," he says.

The Santa Barbara County sheriff's department broke up four cockfighting rings last year, three run by Hispanics and one by Hmong, says Sgt. Erik Raney.

About 150 birds were confiscated in one case after a drug bust led to a broader investigation. "We often find that the people arrested have other criminal records," Raney says.

Cockfighting has increased "at an alarming rate" in the Houston area, says Sgt. Mark Timmers of the Harris County Constable Precinct 6. He says the number of fighting roosters seized doubles every year. Last year, it was about 800.

A cultural tradition

In New Mexico , Diana Orosco VanHoozen takes talk of cockfighting personally.

Once her two daughters were old enough to walk, they helped her feed and handle the roosters, she says. Her birds, numbering about 130, represent family and cultural tradition to VanHoozen. A self-described "fifth-generation cockfighter," she raises, breeds and fights roosters.

"This has been in our family for hundreds of years," says VanHoozen, 36, of Las Cruces , who traces some of her lineage to Mexico . "It's Mexican culture. Anywhere you go in Mexico , you can find a cockfight."

Some New Mexico lawmakers, animal rights groups and others want to make cockfighting illegal. Last month, Gov. Bill Richardson backed the idea.

In Louisiana , state Sen. Arthur Lentini plans to introduce a bill to ban cockfighting when the Legislature convenes in April, according to his assistant, JoAnn Loebig.

VanHoozen calls New Mexico 's effort discrimination. "I want to be able to still practice my cultural tradition," she says.

State Sen. Mary Jane Garcia, a Democrat, counters, "Whose culture are we talking about?"

Garcia's grandparents are from Mexico . She says her family has never participated in cockfighting.

Garcia has been trying to get a cockfighting ban in New Mexico for 18 years. Last week, she introduced a bill to make cockfighting — or attending a fight — a felony.

A 2004 Albuquerque Journal poll found that 66% of registered state voters would support a law banning cockfighting. Among Hispanic voters, 59% favored a ban. "To me, it's an animal-cruelty issue. It's barbaric and gruesome," Garcia says. "It's an illegal and unethical practice. They allow young boys to go in there and gamble."

Garcia acknowledges that cockfighting is still common south of the border. "It's still practiced a lot in Mexico , but we're not in Mexico anymore," she says.

Most cockfighters and spectators in New Mexico are Hispanic, says Ronald Barron of the New Mexico Gamefowl Breeders Association.

"At least 95% of the people raising game fowl in the state are Hispanic," he says. "It's part of the Hispanic tradition."

Fred Hawley, professor of criminal justice at Western Carolina University , has done research on cockfighting.

"Like any other folk practice, it's been spreading along with a number of other folk practices, like folk healing, into areas that attract large Hispanic populations," he says.

Hawley and Pacelle say cockfighting is also popular with rural whites.

Cockfighters take the practice from their native countries because they feel pride in the tradition, Hawley says. "For people who have been doing it for generations, this is symbolic and important," he says.

Timmers cautions against generalizing about ethnic groups. He says, "There are no cultural boundaries when it comes to cockfighting."

Anyone notice how they're more concerned with Cockfighting than they are about discussing and bringing to the public's attention the disasterous results of ILLEGALS killing Americans while driving freely on American roadways or by gang activity?

Cockfighting takes priority over American life?
So much so that this is constantly being written up with nary a word about the millions of Americans who've lost their lives at the hands of ILLEGALS?

Cockfighting is more important than reporting on the unbelievable percentage of ILLEGALS sitting in American prisons and jails? Violent crime? Child predators?

By all means, let's have the journalists discuss Cockfighting and pour money into the RE-EDUCATION of the people to help them ASSIMILATE. Let's pour money into Law Enforcement and train them in the fine art of capturing the Cockfighters.

All the while, Congress has turned their collective backs on our Rule of Law and these Illegal people are freely running through our country.

I know they had alot of that in central florida. They tried to do their "cultural" thing to get it legal.....but it didn't pass. doesn't mean they didn't it anyway. Between that and the pit bull fights I guess there's alot of money to be made. Makes me sick. Some parts of "culture" are inhumane and the's are sure 2 of them.

In Puerto Rico cockfighting is totally legal. In the Virgin Islands cockfighting is legal but artificial enhancement of beaks and spurs is banned.

Originally Posted by 2ndamendsis

Anyone notice how they're more concerned with Cockfighting than they are about discussing and bringing to the public's attention the disasterous results of ILLEGALS killing Americans while driving freely on American roadways or by gang activity?

Cockfighting takes priority over American life?
So much so that this is constantly being written up with nary a word about the millions of Americans who've lost their lives at the hands of ILLEGALS?

Cockfighting is more important than reporting on the unbelievable percentage of ILLEGALS sitting in American prisons and jails? Violent crime? Child predators?

By all means, let's have the journalists discuss Cockfighting and pour money into the RE-EDUCATION of the people to help them ASSIMILATE. Let's pour money into Law Enforcement and train them in the fine art of capturing the Cockfighters.

All the while, Congress has turned their collective backs on our Rule of Law and these Illegal people are freely running through our country.

Well said Sis!!!!

What's new? Mexicans bringing their disgusting traditions to the U.S. What about their revolting practice of horse tripping in their so-called Mexican Charros rodeos?

In "Mexican rodeos," horses are purposely tripped as an event. SHARK footage of these brutal events helped to get horse tripping banned in Illinois.

The animal victims are often headed for slaughter, so there is no reason for their abusers to care what happens to them. These horses commonly have their legs, backs and necks broken, as well as many other injuries.

View these videos to see what these lowlifes consider entertainment.

http://www.sharkonline.org/horsetripping1.mpg

http://www.sharkonline.org/horsetripping2.mpg

http://www.sharkonline.org/horsetripping3.mpg

That is so sad. I had no idea that this was a "sport." The more I find out about their culture, the more repulsive it is. I guess that is why raping young girls doesn't seem to be a problem either.

http://www.stpns.net/view_article.html? ... 5411043451

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Mountain Mail / STPNS
February 22, 2007LETTERS

Cockfighting Helps Mold Good Citizens

By Randy Vicente Peralta, Socorro
special to Mountain Mail

SOCORRO, New Mexico (STPNS) --

To the Editor:

I’m a 32-year-old lifetime New Mexican. I was raised in Magdalena and my family and relatives have probably the deepest roots in the area. I wasn’t raised a game fowl breeder nor a cockfighter, but my parents taught me basic understanding of caring for animals. My family is not a cockfighting family, nor did my father or grandfather introduce me to this.

I had a neighbor who raised gamecocks and soon we became friends. I went to a derby and I was hooked – hooked on making my own decision to raise gamefowl.

No one really knows the time and effort it takes to raise gamebirds. The public only knows the bad that they read on the Internet and in newspapers. The opposition people need to know that many of their quotes and statements are far from true. They say we drug the roosters. If that was true, we’d raise doves, sparrows and pigeons. It takes less effort and time to raise those birds – usually three months to maturity.

It takes 730 days to raise a game rooster – nearly two years. Also, that’s buying feed and paying property taxes and all other expenses to raise these animals. The expense always outweighs the glory.

Game roosters and people are similar in many ways. Only the strong survive and only the strong keep everything in balance. Raising game roosters helped me raise myself. Instead of going to teenage dances and parties, I stayed home to watch and care for my birds. I could have been out drinking or doing drugs.

My parents found my gamecocks to be a blessing to me. The simple basic responsibility of caring and raising them molded me into a productive New Mexican. With my roosters, I’m not a New Mexican. I know I’m only one small voice in this issue, but the bigger voices have all the control.

Gamecocks are a protected animal in my opinion. I will do anything to protect them legally. We gamecock breeders don’t have the money to fight this issue like the animal rights people. However, there is one thing we have – that’s the constitution and treaties that have been ours to use for centuries.

Our Constitution is the truth and voice for our rights. The truth is like the sun in the sky. The clouds may hide it for a few days, but the clouds will disappear and the sun will shine again. There are many other serious issues that face our state – like drunk driving, drugs and violence.

Showing my children how to raise gamefowl will keep them away from these serious issues. Teaching my children these values will make the state of New Mexico a better place to live.

I’m not trying to convince anyone to like or agree with cockfighting. I don’t like rodeo, so I don’t attend rodeos. I can’t see what joy it brings to see a baby calf running full speed ahead and have the rug jerked out from under him by the neck and tied up by the legs. That’s how I see rodeo – just like other people see cockfighting.

All the sports that involve animals have people who support these sports and I’m sure all these people are good New Mexicans and good Americans. I’m sure if enough research was done on all sports, there would only be a handful of reports that would be negative. In “reports,” I mean black-and-white documentation – not what the animal rights people report.

All the gamefowl breeders in New Mexico are good people, hard working and have values as good as mine or better. Don’t let bad media or Hollywood mold your opinions. When you think of your opinion, think of my letter. Go outside and look at the sky and see what’s shining on your face. You can even do this on a cloudy day. You may not see it, but it’s there – the sun.

Randy Vicente Peralta

Socorro
© 2007 Mountain Mail Socorro, New Mexico. All Rights Reserved. This content, including derivations, may not be stored or distributed in any manner, disseminated, published, broadcast, rewritten or reproduced without express, written consent from STPNS.

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I wasn’t raised a game fowl breeder nor a cockfighter, but my parents taught me basic understanding of caring for animals.

Hmmm... I guess that in Espanol, "caring for" means the same thing as "watching get ripped to pieces."

At the risk of sounding racist, I'm going to say that these people have something missing in the empathy department.

Just remember Gov. Richardson (who is running for President) is keeping this hideous activity legal in New Mexico.