Wednesday, March 21, 2007
Hey, New Mexico...Welcome to the 20th Century!
It only took 18 years, but New Mexico finally got around to outlawing cockfighting. If you're like me, you thought that this "sport" was illegal everywhere in the U.S. Not only was that not true, it still isn't. Louisiana still allows it.
An "important cultural tradition"? Jim Crow, pogroms, and gladiator fights were cultural traditions at various times. And other states with large Hispanic populations, such as Florida, Arizona, Texas and California, managed to outlaw cockfights years ago. Hopefully being the last holdout to allow cockfights might help to bring about a ban in Louisiana -- but one might reasonably expect cockfighting to be comparatively low on the state's post-Katrina priority list.
An "important cultural tradition"? Jim Crow, pogroms, and gladiator fights were cultural traditions at various times. And other states with large Hispanic populations, such as Florida, Arizona, Texas and California, managed to outlaw cockfights years ago. Hopefully being the last holdout to allow cockfights might help to bring about a ban in Louisiana -- but one might reasonably expect cockfighting to be comparatively low on the state's post-Katrina priority list.
Labels: chickens animals laws New Mexico Louisiana
