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Tag: Chicken Boxing

  • Chicken Boxing Defended By Louisiana Senator

    Chicken boxing, according to one Louisiana senator, is very different from cockfighting, and a bill that would seal up loopholes in a state cockfighting ban would threaten what he calls a legitimate sport.

    Sen. Elbert Guillory says that chicken boxing is a much less bloody sport and isn’t fought to the death; instead, the animals wear rubber gloves that cover their legs while engaging in the sport, which is much like kickboxing. Guillory says that veterinarians are always on hand to monitor the events, as well.

    “Instead of a blade or exposed spur, they hit each other with these boxing gloves on, which is quite safe,” Guillory said at a hearing. “There’s no blood…There is a legitimate sport known as chicken boxing. It has nothing to do with cockfighting, and it is clear that this bill would interfere, would criminalize that legal enterprise.”

    The bill that Guillory is fighting would impose tougher penalties for anyone engaged in any act of cockfighting, and that isn’t limited to chickens; now included are roosters and game fowl. However, he says the bill will harm families who have raised the animals strictly for the sport.

    “My concern is about the breadth of this bill,” Guillory said. “It covers all chickens. I represent a rural area where people raise a lot of chickens, including chickens that are 15th- and 20th-generation fighting birds that are exported legally and legitimately to other nations.”

    John Goodwin of the Human Society says that there is no such thing as “chicken fighting” and that the term “is just a creative excuse the cockfighters have come up with to mask their real agenda, which is to maintain the weakest penalties for cockfighting possible.”

    James Demoruelle, a cockfighter for 53 years, spoke up in Guillory’s favor, saying the bill would hurt someone like him since he has around a quarter of a million dollars in cockfighting paraphernalia.

    “God put the gameness in the chicken, not man,” Demoruelle said. “We don’t make them fight. You can’t make a gamecock fight if it doesn’t want to fight.”

    Image via Thinkstock

  • Chicken Boxing: Louisiana Senator Insists That It’s Not Cockfighting

    A Republican senator from New Orleans expressed his concern over a bill that would tighten the state’s cockfighting ban, saying that it would shut down the less bloody sport of “chicken boxing”. Surprisingly, this seemingly bizarre discussion took place during an actual session in the Louisiana Senate chambers.

    The Senate Committee for Judiciary C discussed Senate Bill 523 on Tuesday morning, upon the initiative of Democrat Sen. J.P. Morrell (New Orleans). The loophole-closing bill, which was sponsored by Morrell, extends the state’s ban on cockfighting to include gamefowl, rooster, and other types of birds. In addition, the bill prohibits the use of cockfighting equipment, including knives and spurs, when paired with evidence showing their use in training fowl to fight. Violators of the law will also be given higher penalties for first and second offenses.

    Republican Sen. Elbert Guillory criticized the bill, declaring that it expands the existing law too much. He was worried that the legislation would put a stop to “chicken boxing”, a sport that does not require the use of razors and spurs on the birds.

    The 69-year-old senator from Opelousas pointed out that some of the paraphernalia indicated in the bill are used in “the legitimate sport of chicken boxing” such as spur covers made of leather and plastic.

    Morrell interjected by asking Guillory to elaborate on the sport of chicken boxing. He also implied that it might be a made-up sport created to “circumvent cockfighting”.

    According to Guillory, chicken boxing is similar to human boxing in that it is non-fatal. However, other lawmakers present in the session like Republican Sen. Robert Adley (Benton) was puzzled by Guillory’s analogy.

    A surprised Morrell claimed that he had never heard of the sport and added that the fact that two birds are made to fight each other is already outlawed by the 2008 cockfighting ban.

    Cockfighting is a rural tradition considered illegal in all 50 states, and 40 of them treat the activity as a felony. Louisiana was the last state to officially outlaw rooster fighting.

    The Brutality Of Cockfighting (Graphic)

    Image via YouTube