Lynchburg editorial endorsing animal fighting legislation

Cockfighting Belongs in Virginia's Past

Lynchburg News & Advance

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

For dogs, roosters and the Virginians who respect them, Jan. 15 may very well be a landmark day.

Attorney General Bob McDonnell, a Republican, joined representatives of the Humane Society of the United States in announcing a new attempt to toughen Virginia's notoriously weak laws against dogfighting and cockfighting.

Currently, the state's laws against cockfighting are among the weakest in the nation. Dogfighting in the state is a felony, but the same isn't necessarily so for cockfighting, now a misdemeanor. Only if gambling is involved is the blood sport elevated to the level of a felony.

McDonnell, along with Gov. Timothy M. Kaine, has thrown his support behind legislation introduced by Majority Leader Morgan Griffith, R-Salem, in the House of Delegates and Minority Leader Thomas Norment, R-James City County, in the state Senate.

Last year, Democratic senator Roscoe Reynolds of Henry County introduced virtually identical legislation in the General Assembly, after seeing a rise of cockfighting raids in his native Southside involving out-of-staters, illegal aliens and Mexican gangs. Reynolds had been trying to tighten the laws for years and saw his efforts in 2007 come painfully close to fruition. Standing in his way a year ago were two Republican senators - John Watkins of Chesterfield County and John Chichester of Fredericksburg - who rather stealthily killed the bill, saying its language was "overly broad."

Between the close of the 2007 session of the General Assembly and today there was a seismic change regarding animal blood sports that can be expressed in two words: Michael Vick.

Though the former NFL football star has gone to prison after admitting his involvement in the brutal "sport" of dogfighting, the public's level of disgust and revulsion has raised support for roosters, too. Though definitely not as cute and cuddly as the puppies and dogs Vick and his cohorts pitted against each other, roosters have definitely benefited from the "Vick halo effect."

According to The Associated Press, cockfighting is an equally bloody and disturbing crime. Roosters have their combs cut off and are doped up with steroids to bulk them up and to raise their levels of aggressiveness; razors are attached to their talons just prior to fights to make their kicks and jabs that much more deadly to their opponents. Usually, one or both of the birds pitted against each other die of the injuries sustained in the fights.

In a perfect world, the Griffith-Norment legislation would be a slam-dunk, but not in Virginia.

The foes of efforts to protect innocent animals, the people Del. Griffith says are "lurking in the shadows," paint themselves as upholders of Virginia's noble, Colonial history when cockfighting and dogfighting were the pastimes of the the upper crust of society. Keep government out of our weekend activities, they say; we're just upholding the heritage of our forefathers.

This legislation needs to be enacted as quickly as possible. No pussy-footing around. No "we're just proud Southerners taking part in our Daddy's heritage."

Track the bills, HB656 and SB592, at http://legis.state.va.us.