| COCKFIGHTING BILL IN NEW MEXICO
A bill that would have made participation in cockfighting a felony
in New Mexico passed the state House but was killed in the Senate
on March 28. It was the farthest a bill to ban cockfighting had
ever traveled in the New Mexico Legislature. Cockfighting pits are
located mainly throughout rural southern New Mexico. Though NM cockfighters
are mainly Hispanic, many Hispanics have spoken out against cockfighting
and said they resent the fact that cockfighting is being made a
cultural and racial issue in the state. A 2001 Research and Polling
Inc. survey indicated that 71 percent of registered Hispanic voters
support making cockfighting illegal. “This isn’t a case
of city people telling rural people what to do,” said Mae
Jeanne Rescineto de Garcia of Albuquerque. “Cockfighting has
always been wrong.” 77 percent of New Mexicans consider cockfighting
a barbaric blood sport that celebrates violence. State legislator
Ron Godbey, who introduced the bill to make cockfighting a felony,
said he will sponsor the bill again in 2 years at the next regular
session, if he’s still in office. If not, he said, someone
else will. (From The Boston Globe, 4/6/03.).
United Poultry Concerns is a nonprofit organization that promotes
the compassionate and respectful treatment of domestic fowl. http://www.upc-online.org
United Poultry Concerns, Inc.
PO Box 150
Machipongo, VA 23405-0150
757-678-7875
FAX: 757-678-5070
www.upc-online.org |
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