WASHINGTON - The HSUS and The Fund for Animals (The Fund) have issued the following statements in reaction to the ruling issued today by the Oklahoma Supreme Court on the case relating to the state’s voter-approved law to ban cockfighting:
“The delaying tactics and the flimsy legal arguments from the cockfighters have been swept aside,” stated Wayne Pacelle, a senior vice president of The Humane Society of the United States. “Now, we should see the end of the barbaric and inhumane practice of cockfighting in Oklahoma. No longer will it be legal to pump birds full of stimulants, strap knives to their legs, place them in a pit, and watch them hack one another to death – all for amusement and illegal gambling.”
“It has been nearly a year and a half since the people of Oklahoma voted overwhelmingly to end the cruel and barbaric practice of strapping knives to roosters’ legs and forcing them to kill one another,” said Michael Markarian, president of The Fund for Animals. “It is high time for the will of the people to be respected and the cockfighting ban implemented and enforced.”
Voters approved State Question 687 in November 2002, outlawing cockfighting and making cockfighting and a variety of associated activities a felony offense. Not long after the voters approved the initiative, cockfighters sued in dozens of district courts to enjoin enforcement of the law, arguing that the law is unconstitutional.
Today, the Oklahoma Supreme Court, without dissent, affirmed the constitutionality of the law. The HSUS and The Fund for Animals worked with their members in Oklahoma and with grassroots organizations throughout the state on the anti-cockfighting campaign. The political committee that conducted the anti-cockfighting campaign is the Oklahoma Coalition Against Cockfighting.
The Humane Society of the United States is the nation’s largest animal protection organization with more than eight million members and constituents. On the web at www.hsus.org.
The Fund for Animals was founded in 1967 by author and animal advocate Cleveland Amory.
