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DELANO, Calif. -- A Central California man who was at a cockfight died after being stabbed in the leg by a bird that had a knife attached to its own limb, officials confirmed Monday. Jose Luis Ochoa, 35, of Lamont, was declared dead at a hospital about two hours after he was injured in neighboring Tulare County on Jan. 30, the Kern County coroner said. An autopsy concluded Ochoa died of an accidental "sharp force injury" to his right calf. Sheriff's spokesman Ray Pruitt said it was unclear if a delay in seeking medical attention contributed to Ochoa's death.

EARLIMART, Calif. — A Lamont man was killed earlier this week by a chicken. Jose Luis Ochoa, 35, was stabbed by a knife attached to the leg of a fighting rooster, the Kern County coroner's office said Friday.

Dallas police broke up an alleged cockfighting operation in Southeast Dallas Saturday. The Humane Society of the United States supplied undercover cockfighting video to police that led to the raid at a large run-down building. "Today we found scores of roosters who had been brought to fight to the death with knives tied to their legs," said John Goodwin with the HSUS said in a news release. "Many birds injured in the fights were simply thrown in a pile and left to slowly die. We commend the Dallas Police Department for their quick and efficient action to shut down this...

(English-language translation) A bill announced yesterday by Representative Melinda Romero Donnelly to establish Puerto Rico's first animal registry including pit bulls and paso fino walking horses but not fighting cocks got off on the wrong foot. The legislator said she does not consider cockfighting a sport or a cultural tradition, but rather "abuse" and maintained she will not allow "legalizing an illegal practice such as this one". However, Recreation & Sports Department Secretary Henry Neumann said the bill "is political suicide" and that "it will never be approved". Neumann indicated that cockfights are regulated by the Cockfighting Commission and that...

MODERN CIVIL RIGHTS: COCKFIGHTING AND SAME-SEX PROMSMay 26, 2010 Watching TV this week, at first I thought Republican Senate nominee Rand Paul had flown a commercial jet into the World Trade Center. But then it turned out that he had only said there ought to be discussion about whether federal civil rights laws should be applied to private businesses. This allowed the mainstream media to accuse Paul of being a racist. Twisting a conservative's words in order to accuse him of racism was evidently more urgent news than the fact that the attorney general of the United States admitted last...

HONOLULU, - The Hawaii House Cultural Affairs Committee has passed two resolutions urging the state Legislature to support cockfighting as a cultural activity. The committee held a hearing Monday attended by about 60 supporters of cockfighting, which has been illegal in Hawaii since 1884, and passed resolutions that supported the practice, but did not amount to legalization, KITV, Honolulu, reported Tuesday. "I am sick and tired of them calling us a bunch of hoodlums when we are doing what we enjoy doing," Lloyd Marshall of Waianae said at the hearing. The Hawaiian Humane Society, the Humane Society of the United...

An international animal-protection group says the NFL should add dogfighting and cockfighting to its list of banned activities. Dogfighting is a crime in all 50 states and cockfighting is illegal in 48 states. In Defense of Animals has sent a letter to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell asking him to add both activities to the "criminal offense" section of the league's Personal Conduct Policy.

LOS ANGELES — The chickens have come home to roost for Los Angeles city dwellers who keep roosters. The City Council on Tuesday passed an ordinance that — with few exceptions — allows only one rooster per property. It was spurred by complaints over noise and hygiene and concerns over illegal cockfighting. Janice Hahn, who authored the bill, says it will give residents of her district some peace and quiet.

LOS ANGELES (AP) - The chickens have come home to roost for Los Angeles city dwellers who keep roosters. The City Council on Tuesday passed an ordinance that—with few exceptions—allows only one rooster per property. It was spurred by complaints over noise and hygiene and concerns over illegal cockfighting. Janice Hahn, who authored the bill, says it will give residents of her district some peace and quiet. Neighborhoods from the harbor to the San Fernando Valley are sometimes annoyed by concerts from crowing roosters. Real estate developer Michael Mekeel says tenants of his Panorama City development have had to turn...

KAPOWSIN, Wash. - Investigators from Seattle police and the Pierce County Sheriff's Department say they've busted a cock-fighting ring operating in southeastern Pierce County. Investigators seized more than 50 roosters at the suspected cock-fighting operation near Kapowsin Friday. Investigators from several agencies are raiding a property in the 32400 block of Meridian Avenue East near the small town of Kapowsin where the alleged ring operated, said Pierce County Sheriff's Department spokesman Ed Troyer. Sheriff's SWAT and Meth Lab teams entered the property Friday to serve search warrants. So far, they've recovered 51 cocks and are rounding up more birds, said...

New Mexico cockfighters have filed a federal lawsuit seeking $77 million, claiming their civil rights were violated in the state's enforcement of a 2007 law banning the bloodsport. The class-action lawsuit was filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Las Cruces. It challenges whether authorities had probable cause to make arrests and euthanize roosters during raids at New Mexico farms. State Attorney General Gary King is listed among 11 defendants. His office declined to comment. The cockfighters' latest legal effort comes less than a week after the New Mexico Court of Appeals upheld the state law outlawing cockfighting.

WATERBURY, Conn. - From a garage near an abandoned factory in the south end of town, the sound was unmistakable: roosters - lots of them - squawking in the night. It's an odd noise to hear in the middle of this city, the former brass capital of the world. But police in Waterbury, about 30 miles southwest of Hartford, knew exactly what they were dealing with recently when they gathered outside the squawking garage. It was another cockfight.

BATON ROUGE -- Some call it a blood sport. Others call it a way of life. But whatever the view, as of Friday cockfighting will be illegal in Louisiana, the last state in the nation to outlaw it. Those on both sides of the battle to end the spectacle that pits roosters with razor-sharp gaffs on their feet in a fight to the death, concede that the law will not eliminate the practice, but only send it deeper into the shadows. "You will have people saying they are going to keep fighting their roosters, " despite the law, said Chris...

PEDRO MARTINEZ CAUGHT AT COCKFIGHT PEDRO'S FOWL BALL February 7, 2008 -- A sickening video of New York Mets pitcher Pedro Martinez and legendary Hall of Famer Juan Marichal laughing at a gruesome cockfight in the Dominican Republic was posted - and then quickly taken off - YouTube. Martinez and Marichal, among the best pitchers of all time, are seen grinning before releasing two roosters. Cockfighting is both legal and popular in the Dominican Republic. The pair took part as honorary "soltadores" - the word used to describe the person who throws the animal into the ring. The bird released...

CHAPARRAL, N.M. — Six roosters were shipped to animal control authorities in Albuquerque after a raid on an alleged cockfight in southern New Mexico, but 138 other roosters were euthanized, officials said.

SAN DIEGO -- More than 5,000 trained birds have been seized in what authorities said Monday was the largest cockfighting bust in U.S. history. Agents found 4,400 birds Saturday at a 7-acre compound in the Otay Mesa industrial area of San Diego, near the Mexican border. More than 2,500 birds were seized at the same place six years ago in what was then the largest bust in history. Hundreds more birds were found at a second training ground nearby, officials said. Other stings have resulted in more arrests but none have produced more birds, said John Goodwin, manager of animal...

SAN DIEGO – More than 5,000 birds were seized and 50 people were arrested in what's being called the largest cockfighting raid in U.S. history, authorities announced Monday. Several law enforcement agencies took part in a raid that was carried out in several locations Saturday in South County, said San Diego District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis. The largest of the raids was at a seven-acre compound in Otay Mesa near the border, where 4,400 birds including roosters, hens and chicks were found. “For years this particular site has been a bird factory – raising and training hundreds of roosters for illegal...

The Washington Post reports on a federal lawsuit seeking to clarify a Clinton Administration animal cruelty law. At issue: Whether online transmissions of cockfights from countries where the "sport" is legal can be sold to viewers in the U.S.: One evening last week, two roosters in a ring surrounded by cheering spectators pecked and clawed one another in a fight to the death. With each lunge, feathers flew, then floated to the ground. Finally, one bloodied bird, its eyes plucked out, lurched and faltered."Red is blinded," shouted the announcer. "Red goes down. ... Now he's really hurt. ... A tremendous...

Police: Cheering Men Lead To 'Professional' Cockfighting Operation Massive Grave Of Dead Birds, $25,000 In Cash Found A large group of cheering men in a rural part of Polk County led to the arrests of 17 men on suspicion they were taking part in a cockfighting operation described as "very professional" by the county sheriff. Officers raided a rural area of Polk County Monday and found a massive grave of freshly killed roosters, drawers full of sharp fighting spurs for birds and $25,000 in cash. A bloody fighting box where the roosters apparently fought to the death was also found...

Editor's Note:Eric Sakach attended about a dozen dogfights as an undercover investigator for the Humane Society. Here, he gives AJC reporter Drew Jubera an insider's account. The precautions taken to avoid detection are pretty extraordinary. In one case [in Arkansas], we were told to arrive at a motel the day before. Most of the people there were there to attend the same fight. The day of the fight, later in the afternoon, we all received a call and were told to stand outside by our vehicles. A lone pickup truck with a couple of occupants made a slow pass by...

Humane Society pressuring Amazon.com over cockfighting magazines LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) - The Humane Society of the United States is threatening a lawsuit against Amazon.com Inc., saying the online retailer is violating federal law by selling two magazines that promote cockfighting. The Humane Society sent a letter Tuesday to the retailer, detailing its intention to begin legal action unless the magazines -- ``The Feathered Warrior'' and ``The Gamecock'' -- are removed immediately from the site. Both are mailed from western Arkansas.

After listening to impassioned testimony from cockfighting opponents Thursday, Rep. Jack Smith, D-Franklin, took the microphone with a waggish glint in his eye. "The cafeteria is open," he announced, "and today's special is fried chicken." The House Agriculture Committee was about to polish off the animal lovers. Not that there was any doubt before Smith's sally. This has been going on for decades. Some metropolitan legislator files a bill to ban cockfighting, and it is assigned to a committee dominated by legislators from down the bayous. They hear testimony to the effect that cockfighting is a bloody barbarism that brings...

A Richland County senator says the University of South Carolina needs to rethink its “Fighting Gamecock” mascot if the Legislature passes tougher penalties on cockfighting. If the bill passes, “how can we as lawmakers and other leaders of this state justify a major institution in our state running ads and logos on billboards with a fighting gamecock with spurs on the feet?” asked Sen. Darrell Jackson. Jackson’s question came as Attorney General Henry McMaster testified before a Senate subcommittee asking lawmakers to pass a bill raising the penalties for cockfighting, which currently is a $100 fine. The panel took no...

Registration protest Nancy Falster in Austin They yelled, they cursed and they cried, and in the end, the people who testified Thursday persuaded state commission members to delay a requirement that livestock owners register their animals with the government. The Texas Animal Health Commission, acting on a bill passed by the Legislature, was going to require livestock owners to register their "premises," a rule that would include listing the kinds of animals they have, though not the number. The proposal is part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's plan to tag animals so they can be tracked to prevent the...

An Oklahoma state senator wants to outfit fighting roosters with tiny boxing gloves in a bid to take the gore out of the controversial blood sport of cockfighting. A Texas legislator proposed prohibiting weathercasters from calling themselves "meteorologists" if they lack the proper degree. And earlier this month, the Texas House of Representatives approved a bill to curb salacious or "sexually suggestive" high school cheerleading routines. Fortunately, amid consideration of these and other urgent matters, Texas lawmakers still had time to designate the chuck wagon as the official state vehicle and to declare April 14 "Texas Fire Ant Prevention Day"...

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) - People convicted of cockfighting would be charged with a felony and face five years in prison and a $5,000 fine under a bill that cleared the House Judiciary Committee on Monday. Currently cockfighting is a misdemeanor with a punishment of 30 days in jail and a $100 fine. South Carolina is one of 17 states where cockfighting is a misdemeanor. It's a felony in 31 states. House Judiciary Chairman Jim Harrison, R-Columbia, said the legislation could have failed in his committee, but the turnout of cockfighting enthusiasts changed people's minds. There were people wanting to keep...

LANCASTER, Calif. -- Twenty-one people were arrested and 93 fighting roosters were confiscated when a sheriff's deputy showed up at the start of a desert cockfight. Acting on a tip from a woman who reported seeing a van filled with men and hearing roosters crowing inside, the deputy broke up the event, which had been staged for bettors Sunday morning. More than 60 men were gathered around a cockfighting arena when the deputy arrived, said Sgt. Darrel Brown of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. Most of the men fled but 21 were arrested and cited. It is a misdemeanor...

by Jason Copeland, KGRN, Grinnell Several chickens that cops believe were being raised for cock fighting have been rescued in Marshalltown. Marshalltown police served a search warrant at a Marshalltown residence on Friday. Six chickens were found along with knives, spurs, and other items associated with cock fights. Information obtained during that search led to the search of another residence where an estimated 50 to 60 more chickens were discovered. Ignacio Lizarde-Herra and Juan Sanchez Armas are both charged with multiple counts of raising chickens for fighting and possession of such birds. They are also charged with raising poultry in...

The ASPCA is investigating what appears to be a cockfighting ring, after seizing dozens of roosters from a house in the Bronx Tuesday. An officer spotted a man carrying a rooster outside a house on East Clark Place in Mount Eden and followed him into the basement, where the roosters were being kept, police said. The officer called in the ASPCA, which says most of the birds carried scars typical of cockfighting, like missing combs, shaved chests and sharpened spurs. “Fifteen of those roosters had been surgically altered for fighting,” said ASPCA Special Agent Joe Pentangelo. “The remaining 10 were...

OKLAHOMA CITY - With cockfighting now banned in Oklahoma, one legislator is proposing a blood-free alternative: fitting roosters with little boxing gloves and letting them slug it out. "Who's going to object to chickens fighting like humans do? Everybody wins."

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - A state senator has a plan for saving Oklahoma's gamefowl industry now that cockfighters are legally prohibited from pitting birds fitted with razor-like spurs. State Sen. Frank Shurden, a longtime defender of cockfighting, is suggesting that roosters be given little boxing gloves so they can fight without bloodshed. The proposal is in a bill the Democrat has introduced for the legislative session that begins Feb. 7. "Who's going to object to chickens fighting like humans do? Everybody wins," Sen. Frank Shurden said. Oklahoma voters banned cockfighting in 2002. The practice is still legal in Louisiana and...

OKLAHOMA CITY (Reuters) -- An Oklahoma senator hopes to revive cockfighting in the state by putting tiny boxing gloves on the roosters instead of razors. The Oklahoma legislature outlawed the blood sport in 2002 because of its cruelty to the roosters, which are slashed and pecked to death while human spectators bet on the outcome. But State Sen. Frank Shurden, a Democrat from Henryetta and a long-time defender of cockfighting, said the ban had wiped out a $100-million business. To try to revive it, he has proposed that roosters wear little boxing gloves attached to their spurs, as well as...

Dueling roosters donning gloves and electronic sensors would box without bloodshed under a Henryetta senator's plan to save Oklahoma's gamefowl industry and bring more dollars to the state. "Who's going to object to chickens fighting like humans do? Everybody wins," said Sen. Frank Shurden, a longtime defender of gamefowl breeders' right to have cockfighting. The Henryetta Democrat introduced Senate Bill 776 for consideration this session. (snip) Removing the blood from the sport takes away the main argument animal rights groups have against cockfighting, Shurden said. "Let the roosters do what they love to do without getting injured," Shurden said. In...

WASHINGTON - No cockfighting in Oklahoma, the Supreme Court says. The justices turned down an appeal Monday from cockfighting supporters, who have lost at the ballot box and in courts. Oklahoma voters in 2002 approved a ban on the blood sport, in which knives or cutting barbs are attached to roosters, which usually fight to the death. The Oklahoma Supreme Court upheld voters' decision earlier this year, prompting the appeal to the Supreme Court. Justices rejected it without comment. Attorney Larry Oliver, in filings at the court, said that the law was so vague that people could be arrested for...

SANTA FE — Actress Pamela Anderson has asked Gov. Bill Richardson to outlaw cockfighting in New Mexico, one of only two states that still allows it. "The whole country is watching, especially Hollywood, which your office actively courts for the film business," Anderson wrote in a letter released by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. Richardson's office did not immediately return a call Tuesday from The Associated Press seeking comment. Richardson could ask the legislative session that begins in January to outlaw the practice. An effort to prohibit it died in the 2003 session, with opponents of a ban...

COLUMBIA, S.C. - South Carolina's agriculture commissioner was arrested Thursday on charges of taking payoffs to protect a cockfighting ring. Charles Sharpe, 65, was indicted on charges including extortion and money laundering. He was accused of accepting at least $20,000 from an organization involved in breeding and raising birds for cockfighting in exchange for helping the group avoid legal trouble. Cockfighting is illegal in South Carolina. Sharpe's lawyers said he is innocent. U.S. Attorney J. Strom Thurmond Jr. said the South Carolina Gamefowl Management Association paid Sharpe to escort a law enforcement officer to their cockfighting building in Aiken County...

Philippines to launch internet-based cockfight bettingCorrespondents in Manila June 1, 2004THE Philippines is to launch on-line betting on cockfights in the next few weeks, officials said. The internet-based betting system will be operated by the state-run Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp (Pagcor) and Philweb Corp, which said it sees the game generating annual revenue of some 60 billion pesos (about $US1 billion). Cockfighting is a popular sport in the Philippines and is considered the national sport next to basketball. Philweb is the Philippines' leading integrated internet company. It had earlier signed a deal to operate Pagcor's online sports betting and...

POLITICAL POINTSThe Politics of CockfightingBy JOHN TIERNEY HOULD cockfighting be legal? Should it be regulated at the state or federal level? And exactly where, in the moral hierarchy, does it rank in relation to hog-dog rodeos? Perhaps you have not spent a lot of time contemplating these ethical quandaries. But since cockfighting is now a political issue that might help determine control of the United States Senate next year, you may want to get up to speed.The Louisiana Legislature is considering a bill to ban hog-dog rodeos, in which a boar, after having its tusks cut off, is chased around...

"Touching or kissing a kid may be something natural in Latin America. Here in the States, it can be seen as sexual abuse," said Alison Renteln, author of The Cultural Defence.Her book recounts hundred of stories of immigrants who violated US laws by practicing their own customs. "For many immigrants, living in America is a cultural balancing act," the associate professor of political science at the University of Southern California told AFP. "Touching or kissing a kid may be something natural in Latin America. Here in the States it can be seen as sexual abuse" Alison Renteln,author  "They struggle to...

The Oklahoma Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld a ban on cockfighting despite the efforts of enthusiasts of the blood sport, who had tried to block the measure for over a year. Opponents of the ban had worked on a regional basis to prevent the law from being enforced in various localities, saying the ban was arbitrary, allowed for the unfair seizure of property and imposed penalties that were too harsh. The court rejected these claims in a unanimous decision, saying the law was constitutional. Attorney General Drew Edmondson had argued for the ban on behalf of the state and said...

Oklahoma Supreme Court Says Cockfighting Law Valid (Oklahoma City-AP) -- The state Supreme Court upheld Oklahoma's ban on cockfighting Tuesday. Supporters of cockfighting had argued the law banning the blood-sport was unconstitutionally vague and deprived people involved in cockfighting of their property without compensation. Today's ruling says the act is constitutional and is a proper exercise of police power, approved by voters through the initiative process. The cockfighting ban passed by 125,000 votes in November 2002. The state high court says the ban will prevent cruelty to animals. The ruling overturns a series of district court orders that had blocked...

Entertainment-starved Iraqis are increasingly turning to cockfighting - a pastime that has been part of the country's fabric for centuries. Though tolerated by Saddam Hussein, fans of the blood sport had to bribe policemen to indulge in gambling, an important part of the cockfighting routine. However, the fans are having a great time since Saddam was ousted, as they are free to openly play the odds while the roosters fight to the death. Cockfighting and the associated gambling are serious business in Iraq. Die-hard followers of the sport drive from across Iraq to Baghdad. People like Kathim Jassim, Baghdad's king...

Gamecock breeders expect up to 10,000 at rally (Muskogee-AP) -- Gamecock breeders in Oklahoma say they expect up to 10,000 cockfighting supporters at a Capitol rally in February. They're hoping a major rally at the start of the legislative session will encourage lawmakers to vote in favor of measures that would help the sport. The rally is planned for 11 AM on February 4th, during the first week of the 2004 legislative session. Senate Bill 835 would reduce cockfighting penalties from a felony to a misdemeanor. Cockfighting supporter Senator Frank Shurden of Henryetta says the bill will be voted on...

<p>WASHINGTON (AP) -- Cockfighting and wildfires do not mix, at least not in Congress.</p> <p>House and Senate negotiators working Thursday on legislation aimed at reducing fires in national forests stripped a provision to increase penalties on illegal cockfighting.</p> <p>Lawmakers said the cockfighting measure, and a separate plan to limit use of the term "ginseng" in labeling herbs and other supplements, were cluttering up the forestry bill, itself the focus of intense debate for months.</p>

An association with ties to cockfighting, which has about 15,000 members in 28 states, is in a battle to retain its tax-exempt status as a federally sanctioned agricultural organization. Animal rights groups opposed to cockfighting are urging the government to revoke that status for the Ohio-based United Gamefowl Breeders Association. "You cannot separate the breeding from the fighting," said Wayne Pacelle, senior vice president of the Humane Society of the United States. "The purpose of raising the birds is to fight them. There is no legitimate agricultural activity occurring." The Internal Revenue Service says agricultural organizations include groups that...

Jan 14, 11:35 AM EST Cockfighting Rooster Kills HandlerZAMBOANGA, Philippines (AP) -- A rooster about to be set loose for a bout in a crowded cockfighting arena attacked its handler with the razor-sharp steel spikes strapped to its legs, killing the stunned man, police said Tuesday. The gaffs hit the man's thigh and groin as the bird made one rapid shuffle, causing him to bleed profusely Sunday before a large crowd of shocked spectators, police investigator Johnny Muhajil said. The man died while being brought to a hospital in Zamboanga, a bustling port city about 530 miles south of Manila,...

Lawton-AP) -- A Lawton man says game fowl breeders licensed by a group he founded will be protected from a new state ban on cockfighting. Mike Turner says his Kiowa Association for the Preservation of Rural and Cultural Lifestyles is a recognized sub-entity of the Kiowa Tribe. Turner breeders can get a license which essentially leases their birds and equipment to the association and protects them under tribal law. He says any cockfights would have to take place on Indian land. Turner says he doesn't know if Oklahoma Attorney General Drew Edmondson will challenge his plan, but says he's ready...

OKLAHOMA CITY — Animal-rights activism is colliding head-on with rural tradition in Oklahoma, where voters will decide Nov. 5 whether to ban cockfighting in one of the last three states to allow the bloody spectacle. Supporters of the proposed ban say cockfighting is inhumane and gives the state a bad name. Opponents say the sport, also legal in Louisiana and New Mexico, is a livelihood for people who raise the birds and is no crueler than the way chickens are raised and slaughtered. Cockfighting became legal in Oklahoma in 1963, when the state Court of Criminal Appeals ruled that...

Congress has addressed the issue of cockfighting, which gets more attention in South Carolina because of the mascot of the state university than because of any legal action to prevent the sport banned here and in most states. And there are indeed those who call it sport to watch two roosters do battle to the death. The same with dogs and other animals. As history shows, there are those, too, who'd enjoy watching and betting on humans doing battle to the death. Therein is a large part of the problem in not standing against such blood sports. Orangeburg County Sheriff...