A U.S. Supreme Court ruling on Monday, November 15th left Louisiana and New Mexico as the only states where cockfighting is legal. Opponents and supporters of this blood sport get ready to rumble reports Boston.com:
"We can't afford a million-dollar race horse or a million-dollar NASCAR car," said 68-year-old Ray Alexander, who raises roosters in Lincoln, Miss. "We can afford a chicken, and we can go out and be competitive with that chicken."
Animal activists see things differently, contending the activity is inhumane. Roosters -- fitted with razor-like spurs on their claws -- tear one another to pieces inside a ring, known as a "pit." Many of the fights end with one of the birds dead and the other crippled.
"There's just no good reason, in this day and age, to be engaged in this activity," Wayne Pacelle, president of the Humane Society of the United States, said. "There's no good reason for any jurisdiction to allow it."
Larry Mathews, spokesman for the United Gamefowl Breeders Association, is not surprised by activists' reaction.
"We would expect them to continue to fight us, as we will continue to fight for ourselves," he said.
Cockfighting supporters brace battles [Boston.com]
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