Louisiana Governor Passes Cockfighting Ban!

Raising animals to fight one another all for entertainment purposes is pretty much as cruel and unusual as it can get, which is why the news that Louisiana Governor, Bobby Jindal, has toughened cockfighting laws in his state is such wonderful news.

While technically cockfighting was prohibited before, the new measures broaden the definition of “chicken” to close any potential loopholes that would have made it “legal” to fight roosters or other game fowl.

In addition, the law criminalizes, “possession, manufacturing,  buying, and selling of spurs, gaffs and knives” which are commonly used in cockfights. A chicken wielding a set of spurs and a knife is a pretty terrifying thought is it not? Even scarier is trying to picture how one would go about trying to train a chicken to fight in such a manner…is Master Splinter involved? But my own musings aside, this is incredibly good news for the humane measures of the state of Louisiana.

In order to create this law, Jindal modeled the new rules for cockfighting after the state’s dogfighting legislation, making Louisiana a little more friendly of a place for animals. Actually, the passing of this law makes Louisiana the last state to make rooster fighting illegal, so the entire U.S. is a little safer for chickens, roosters, and game fowl.

Image source: Felix Francis/Wikimedia Commons