Posted on 04/10/2007 7:17:41 AM PDT by Graybeard58
Spectators shake their fists, scream out wagers and cheer on their roosters, the air swirling with cigarette smoke and chicken feathers.
Saturday night in Breaux Bridge means rooster fights at the Atchafalaya Game Club, one of dozens of cockfighting venues in Louisiana -- soon to be the last state where the practice is legal. Fans from around the country pay $10 and settle into padded seats overlooking the pit, where two roosters peck and claw each other, often to the death.
But this Louisiana tradition -- long decried by animal rights activists as cruel and barbaric -- may be coming to an end.
Worried about the state's long-standing image as a corrupt backwater at a time when hurricane-stricken New Orleans desperately needs money from Capitol Hill, Gov. Kathleen Blanco and other politicians want cockfighting banned.
That is an unpopular idea at the Atchafalaya club, where enthusiasts consider it harmless fun. They say Louisiana has plenty of other problems to solve, including the stagnant recovery from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
"I just don't see how it's going to help the state to get rid of cockfighting," said Dale Barras, owner of the Atchafalaya club.
The Atchafalaya Game Club -- home to the Christmas Derby, the Mardi Gras Cup and other cockfighting tournaments -- is an unmarked warehouse in Breaux Bridge, a small Cajun town about 120 miles west of New Orleans.
A cockfighting ban takes effect in June in New Mexico, the only other state where the blood sport is legal. Gov. Bill Richardson signed the ban earlier this year, with some residents speculating that the Democratic candidate for president turned against the sport for fear of looking as if he comes from a backward state.
In Louisiana, pro-cockfighting politicians have blocked the animal rights movement for years. Some lawmakers say it should be a local matter: Towns and parishes can outlaw cockfighting if they choose.
The governor and House speaker once tacitly approved of cockfighting but have come out against it more recently.
Because of the hurricanes, Louisiana relies on money from Washington to rebuild New Orleans and other areas. State leaders say they believe Congress will not want to send billions to a state where bloody animal fights are legal.
“Blank Check” Blanco, do think think humans killing one another in NOLA at a rate that rivals Baghdad is more important?
In Puerto Rico, cock-fighting is like the NFL and the residents there would pummel any PETA preacher that tried to stop it.
Ultimate fighting among humans appears to me to be a worse acitivity and is probably more closely related to “sport” than chicken fighting. I ain’t for it and I ain’t agin it. Since it is legal it rises only as high as the market will allow. Doesn’t appear like it is “the most popular thing to do in LA”.
Who wants the Bucket-o-loser special?
“...the air swirling with cigarette smoke and chicken feathers. “
The hell with the chickens, they need to protect us from ourselves!
coffee => nose => keyboard!!!
This about sums it up for me. Baton Rouge out of Breaux Bridge!
Because second-hand smoke KILLS (for the children, etc.)
Spectators shake their fists, scream out wagers and cheer on their roosters, the air swirling with cigarette smoke and chicken feathers.
“Bucket-o-Loser Special”
Kkeiyboard on lapp shakking too hhard too tiipe straet?!
Kantt’ ttiype andd lafff owt luud at tewh saam tiem!
(deep breath..... there, that’s better.)
“Bucket-o-Loser” - a perfect monniker for Ray Nagin!
Ah, Louisiana - where sleaze and depravity go to die. And it will take them a while to die, too. Louisiana has a life support system for sleaze and depravity called years and years of democrat party rule.
How nice to know that.
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