United Poultry Concerns April, 26 2004

OKLAHOMA COCKFIGHTERS CHICKEN OUT

From the April 22nd Humanelines (HSUS):
OKLAHOMA COCKFIGHTERS CHICKEN OUT:

Desperate cockfighters are still trying to circumvent the newly-enacted state law in Oklahoma making cockfighting a felony offense, as well as the federal law tightened by Congress in 2002. Weekend headlines from Cotton County, Oklahoma reported on a scheme cooked up by cockfighting enthusiasts to attempt to shield themselves from state and federal animal fighting laws by purchasing "licenses" from a Kiowa tribal member and holding cockfights on land owned by Native Americans. But on Saturday (4/17) - the day they planned to hold the first big "test" fight to demonstrate their ability to circumvent the laws - local police and federal agents showed up in force. Moreover, tribal leaders disavowed the plan. The Kiowa Tribe put out a press release stating that "cockfighting is not founded within historical or cultural traditions of the Kiowa Tribe and any future attempts to associate the Kiowa Tribe with the cockfighting industry will be addressed by legal counsel for the Kiowa Tribe." And the Comanche Nation Tribal Police Chief told the Native American Times, "He [Mike Turner, the individual Kiowa tribe member who concocted the scam with the non-Native cockfighters] is not doing it with us. It's against the law," noting that participants could also be prosecuted under tribal law. Despite their announced intentions to flout the law, when the cockfighters saw the law enforcement presence, they did not risk arrest by going forward with any fights.


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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