Free Republic

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...

In bid to stop disease, USDA pays owners of fighting cocks Sunday, July 6, 2003 ©2003 Associated Press URL: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2003/07/06/state1258EDT0016.DTL (07-06) 09:58 PDT WASHINGTON (AP) -- In its rush to stop a disease that was ravaging California's poultry industry, the federal government paid about $11.5 million to compensate owners of so-called backyard birds, including thousands believed to be fighting cocks. The U.S. Department of Agriculture spent more than $22.3 million from October to May to compensate chicken ranchers whose birds had to be destroyed to eradicate Exotic Newcastle Disease. Records obtained by The Associated Press under the federal Freedom of...