King looks to strengthen state's cockfighting law
MONTGOMERY — With one of the nation's weakest laws against cockfighting — which in Alabama has a maximum punishment of a $50 fine — the state attorney general is pushing to strengthen the law with prison sentences.
Attorney General Troy King said he and the Humane Society of the United States will encourage the Legislature in February to make the law more severe.
"Animal fighting is a horribly cruel practice and anyone who participates in it should pay a price for their crime," King said at a news conference Wednesday at the Statehouse.
Mindy Gilbert, the society's Alabama director, said the society rates Alabama's cockfighting law as the nation's weakest because the $50 fine is the maximum punishment. That fine hasn't been increased since the law was passed in 1896.
Despite that, at least Alabama has such a law — the practice is still legal in Louisiana, which will become the last state in the country to outlaw cockfighting on Aug. 15. It has been illegal since last year to gamble on cockfights in Louisiana.
King said he would like to make the cockfighting law similar to Alabama's dogfighting law, which provides up to 10 years in prison for people who organize and attend dogfights. Gilbert said the society ranks that law as one of the nation's third toughest.
During the news conference, the society announced that it will provide $5,000 rewards for information that leads to arrests and convictions for illegal animal fighting.
The reward is offered in all states in an effort to curb fighting activities that usually are linked with illegal gambling and drugs, Gilbert said.
Since Jan. 1, Alabama law enforcement officers have made arrests for illegal animal fighting in Marshall County, Atmore, Birmingham, Lauderdale County, Escambia County and Mobile.
The biggest case occurred July 5 in Marshall County, where about 350 people were at a cockfight. Officer charged 23 people and seized 150 roosters.
Gilbert said the dogfighting case of NFL quarterback Michael Vick shows that animal fighting is no longer a backwoods activity and now occurs in urban areas and among all socio-economic groups.
