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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...