| Alabama protects a shadowy criminal element that gets enjoyment and profit from events where animals fight each other to the death before a crowd of illegal gamblers, drug pushers, and children. What is this so-called "sport?" Cockfighting. With the weakest laws in the country, Alabama has become a magnet for this illegal activity. Once again, legislators are trying to increase the penalties. Surprisingly, this is controversial and even people like former AL House Democratic majority leader Ken Guin are gleefully sucking up money from the animal cruelty industry. As the Dothan Eagle put it in an editorial: It also defies logic that state officials would go to great lengths to derail electronic bingo, the legality of which is murky, while allowing illegal cockfighting -- and the illegal gambling that comes with it – to remain under the radar. Had Michael Vick been fighting dogs in Alabama, he’d probably still be in the animal pit business.
The Humane Society of the United States has been working on this issue for years. Left to themselves, roosters almost never hurt each other badly. In cockfights, on the other hand, the birds often wear razor-sharp blades on their legs and get injuries like punctured lungs, broken bones and pierced eyes—when they even survive. Sadly, people often bring young children to cockfights. Seeing adults relish such brutality can teach kids to enjoy violence and think that animal suffering is okay.
Today, the HSUS unveiled a new commercial - narrated by Rev. Richard Land, head of the Southern Baptist Convention's Ethics & Religious Ethics Commission: "I can't think of no more frivolous reason for causing pain than to watch two animals maim themselves to death," Dr. Land says in the commercial.
Watch the commercial on the flip. Contact your legislators here and ask them to support SB175 and its companion bill in the House HB176. Both passed out of committee on 2/15, but still need a vote on the floor. Correction! The original blog post had the bill numbers wrong. An alert reader representing Alabama Voters for Responsible Animal Legislation noticed it.
Thanks, y'all! |
