Bill to reduce penalties for animal fighting shut down in Oklahoma Senate
TULSA, Okla. (KTUL) — [WARNING: Some of the images in this story are disturbing.]
Oklahoma House Bill 2530 was shut down on the Senate floor yesterday for the second year in a row.
Had the bill passed, it would have rolled back the penalty for cockfighting from a felony to a misdemeanor, possibly weakening animal fighting laws, including dogfighting, across the state.
Before a bust, an undercover investigator was able to get video of two roosters fighting for their lives.
"This isn't two roosters pecking each other," the investigator said. "These birds actually have steel knives tied to their legs. This is birds, often given adrenaline-boosting drugs that are jumping up and kicking each other with those knives on their legs, stabbing each other, slicing each other to pieces."
Cockfighting and all animal fighting has been illegal in Oklahoma since 2002, but some lawmakers made another stab at rolling back the penalties from a felony to a misdemeanor.
Rep. Justin "JJ" Humphrey has been the lead in this push since last year, once again bringing HB 2530 up for a vote after it failed last year. He cites the reason as a disparity between other more serious crimes being punished with less jail time.
“You know, it’s not right that a person who fights a chicken can get 10 years, and I said, 'That don’t carry 10 years.' He said, 'Yes they do.' I went and pulled the statute and, sure enough, he was right. And I said I agreed with that. I agree that it is wrong to have heroin a misdemeanor and chicken fighting as a felony,” Humphrey said.
NewsChannel 8 asked Humphrey why he didn't instead propose an increase in the penalties for fentanyl possession and other serious crimes, rather than roll back the penalties for animal fighting.
“That is the State of Oklahoma that voted to do that and they wanted to take nonviolent crimes and reduce them," he said. "That was the State of Oklahoma, a state question.”
“I think he is trying to suggest that cockfighting should be available for criminal justice reform," said Cynthia Armstrong, Oklahoma director of the Humane Society of the United States. "He keeps referring to a previous State Question 780 and 781, where Oklahomans voted to give some relief in penalties to low level property crimes and simple possession. That’s very different than the organized, intentional criminal enterprise of cockfighting, which often involves gangs, cartels, and numerous well-documented illegal activities, such as money laundering and human trafficking.”
The vast majority of Oklahomans were against Humphrey's bill to roll back penalties. In fact, a new poll conducted by Pat McFerron, president of Cole Hargrave Snodgrass and Associates, a political consulting firm started by Oklahoma's United States Representative Republican Tom Cole, shows that an overwhelming 87% across every demographic - male, female, Black, white, Republicans, Democrats - live in all districts, both urban and rural, not only wanted cockfighting to stay illegal, but they also wanted it to remain a felony. In fact, it is one of the only issues that politically united Oklahomans across the board.
“If this is not what constituents want, why press so hard for it? Yeah, well, I’ll tell you why, and again a lot of people don’t like me because I speak real plainly, so let me speak real plainly to that pollb******t on the poll. I don’t believe that poll one bit,” Humphrey said.
Someone else who is glad it has remained a felony for now is Tulsa's District Attorney Steve Kunzweiler.
“Animal cruelty is animal cruelty, and this idea that, somehow, we’re going to pick and choose what we’re gonna do with one animal versus another, Governor [Kevin] Stitt often talks about being a top 10 state, well, we don’t need to be going back to the Dark Ages,” Kunzweiler said.
He said he's worried this is going to be, in addition to the cruelty aspect of cockfighting, bringing in other felonious activities.
“Any good law enforcement officer or prosecutor is going to try to figure out what’s behind the ‘ask’ so to speak," Kunzweiler said. "It’s hard for me to imagine that there’s something benevolent behind the ask to make a felony crime of cruelty to animals a misdemeanor.”
Humphrey doesn't agree with Kunzweiler on that point either.
“Those district attorneys in Tulsa, who wouldn’t have a chicken fight in his place anyways, never had and ain’t going to, he don’t know what he’s talking about and that’s a flat out lie,” Humphrey said.
One person who does know what goes on in cockfights is retired United States diplomat Kevin Chambers, who has volunteered as a cruelty investigator for the Humane Society of the U.S., the SPCA, and others for more than 40 years. He addresses the issue of why demographics of cockfighting is shifting.
“There has been a change as we have more immigration from Mexico and the Philippines, and places where cockfighting is still legal, there has been a change in the demographics of people who participate in cockfighting," Chambers said. “But this is not the type of diversity that we want. We welcome diversity, but we want people to be engaged in productive activities.”
One demographic that Chambers says disturbed him the most is the number of children who witness the blood sport.
“Every cockfight I’ve ever been to had children there," he said. "The children even participate in the betting part. This is a terrible way to raise children, to teach them not to have empathy for sentient creatures, for other people. This will not pay off for Oklahoma in the long run.”
So would Humphrey take his own children to a cockfight?
“I’ll tell you this all day. You’re dang skippy I’ll take my kid to a chicken fighting before I’m gonna take them to see a drag queen,” he said.
The president of Animal Wellness Action and Center for a Humane Economy Wayne Pacelle tells NewsChannel 8 that a pro-cockfighting group called the Oklahoma Gamefowl Commission raised $71,000 for its political activities and wrote checks to 34 Oklahoma lawmakers to try to sway their votes.
This bill could be revived for a third attempt next year.