Sunday, May 13, 2007
Chicken fights targeted by feds
Virginia may still need a new law to augment the new federal restrictions, officials say.
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roanoke.com/politics
During this winter's General Assembly session, state Sen. Roscoe Reynolds tried but failed to pass a bill that would have made cockfighting for money a felony in Virginia.
Reynolds, D-Henry County, argued that Virginia's classification of the crime as a Class 3 misdemeanor would encourage cockfighters in neighboring Maryland and North Carolina -- which made cockfighting a felony in 2004 and 2005, respectively -- to bring their birds across the border.
The state bill failed, but earlier this month President Bush signed a federal law that increases the penalty for transporting animals across state lines for the purposes of fighting from a Class 1 misdemeanor to a felony.
House Resolution 137, or the Animal Fighting Prohibition Enforcement Act of 2007, passed the House of Representatives on a 368-39 vote and was approved by unanimous consent in the Senate.
Although it doesn't address everything that Reynolds' bill did, the new law should affect the flow of out-of-state cockfighters into Virginia.
"A law like this gives the federal authorities opportunities for prosecutions that would not happen under state law alone," Reynolds said. "It indicates we were going in the right direction with what we were trying to do."
U.S. Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Roanoke, was among those who voted for the federal law.
He supported the bill because cockfighting is an "abhorrent thing," Goodlatte said. "It's vicious to strap metal knives on the feet of birds and have them fight each other."
U.S. Rep. Rick Boucher, D-Abingdon, also voted for the bill. Rep. Virgil Goode, R-Rocky Mount, did not have a recorded vote on the bill.
Had the law been in effect in January, it may have made a difference in the prosecution of 122 people charged with various crimes after a cockfighting raid in Mecklenburg County.
Officials there found 140 fighting birds, boxes of knives and razor-sharp spurs, seven suspected gang members, 22 illegal immigrants and an average of nearly $1,000 in cash on each spectator -- but most of those charged walked away with no more than a ticket.
According to Mecklenburg County Commonwealth's Attorney Nora Miller, about three-quarters of those charged were from out of state, with the vast majority from North Carolina.
Miller said the new law provides a new avenue for prosecution of these cases. Still, she said, federal prosecutors need to use the law if it's to be of any use.
"It may begin to dissuade people from engaging in this kind of behavior, but until there's a federal prosecution, you're not going to make believers out of these folks," Miller said.
Cockfighting has been practiced for thousands of years and was popular in ancient Greece and Rome. It has flourished in parts of the United States and is considered in some quarters to be a colorful part of rural Southern culture.
But it has been long opposed by animal welfare groups. In 1836, Massachusetts became the first state to ban cockfighting.
By 1998, 17 states punished cockfighting as a felony. That number has since grown to 33.
John Goodwin, deputy manager of animal fighting issues for the Humane Society of the United States, said the passage of HR 137 shows further progress in moving toward stiffer penalties for animal fights. Cockfighting is banned in 49 states, he said, and the 50th -- Louisiana -- is moving toward a ban as well.
And the new federal law means people transporting animals across state lines for the purposes of fighting can be punished with up to three years in prison and a maximum fine of $250,000.
"Basically the federal policy has made it clear that Congress' intent is that animal fighting be punished very significantly," Goodwin said.
But "we still need to have an upgrade in the law in Virginia," Goodwin added. "Of the 49 states that ban cockfighting, Virginia has the second weakest law."
Engaging in the fighting of cocks is currently a Class 3 misdemeanor, punishable by a maximum fine of $500. Many cockfighters view that as the cost of doing business, Goodwin said.
"This can be a uniquely profitable gambling crime, hence the need for strong penalties to offset the gain that comes from breaking the law," Goodwin said.
Goodlatte said he thought Virginia legislators might take a fresh look at state law to see how it might work in conjunction with the federal version.
"I think there's room for further examination of the law in Virginia, but I leave that to Virginia legislators," Goodlatte said.
The new federal law took effect immediately.
