Election day chicken fight: Should Oklahoma outlaw cock fighting?
Gee, I don't know...should voters outlaw a shockingly bloody, violent, and cruel sport- or is this an egregious violation of our civil rights? Give me a break....
Supporters of a proposed ban on cockfighting say putting razor-sharp spurs or knives on birds and forcing them to fight is wrong.
"The issue is human cruelty. The purpose in slashing these birds to death in front of these crowds is for the gambling and entertainment of people," said Janet Halliburton of Oklahoma Coalition Against Cockfighting.
Cockfight supporters have their view of putting two roosters in a ring for blood sport.
"I enjoy the competition of it. Just to be honest with you. There's a competition. Maybe it's a man thing, I don't know. I enjoy raising the fowl, making sure I have a healthy fowl, making the best of the breed is what it amounts to," said Devin Smith of Oklahomans for Freedom of Choice.
If Oklahoma voters pass State Question 687, it would become a felony to hold cockfights or to own birds or equipment for the purpose of cockfighting.
The measure also would make it a misdemeanor to knowingly be a spectator of cockfighting.
With the hue and cry surrounding this issue, you'd think that this was a ballot measure calling for the abolition of trailer parks. Let's get real; cock fighting is a sport that entails the deliberate and wanton infliction of grievous harm to the animals involved. How can anyone with an ounce of humanity refer to this travesty as a "sport"? I can't see how this "issue" even deserves to be on the ballot.
Cock fighting as a "sport" should be outlawed- period- and the voters of Oklahoma should go back to arguing over things that really matter- like trailer parks or Indian casinos....
