Oklahoma cockfighting industry says criminal penalties are too steep

A bill that would support Oklahoma's involvement in the international cockfighting industry is being framed as an extension of the state's criminal justice reform efforts.

Senate Bill 1006 would let counties decide whether to reduce penalties for cockfighting and breeding of fighting chickens.

Oklahomans voted to outlaw cockfighting two decades ago. The law made it a felony to engage in the practice, and it also banned the breeding of fighting chickens. Violators can face up to 10 years in prison and a $25,000 fine.

The text of the law reads: "Every person who owns, possesses, keeps, or trains any bird with the intent that such bird shall be engaged in a cockfight, upon conviction, shall be guilty of a felony." Differences of opinion can arise over the breeders' intent.

The bill under consideration this year would let voters in each county decide whether those crimes should instead be a misdemeanor.

"We're still going to keep cockfighting illegal," said Blake Pierce, a member of the advocacy group known as the Oklahoma Gamefowl Commission. "The main purpose of this law is just for us to raise, sell them, export them and make a living."

The problem, Pierce said, is that state law doesn't give much clarity about whether a chicken is being raised to fight, or is being raised as breeding stock for export to another country like Mexico or the Philippines. The roosters that he and his father raise aren't used for fighting, Pierce said.

"They can come into our yard and say, 'Since you are separating these roosters, we believe you have the intent to fight them,'" Pierce said. "You can get a felony with 10 years in prison for owning one rooster here in Oklahoma."

Senate Bill 1006 advanced from committee on Monday, but it will require more work before it even comes close to being law. Its author, state Sen. Lonnie Paxton, said he plans to modify the legislation as it moves through the Capitol.

"There was some pushback from some of the larger counties because of tourism issues, because of convention issues, to keep it out of those larger cities," said Paxton, R-Tuttle.

In recent years, Oklahoma has focused on reducing penalties for nonviolent crime as part of an ongoing effort to reform its criminal justice code. That included making simple drug possession a misdemeanor rather than a felony.

Oklahoma Gamefowl Commission member Anthony DeVore contrasted the anti-cockfighting laws to other crimes that have less punishment.

"Misdemeanor drugs such as fentanyl were responsible for over 800 deaths in Oklahoma. Roosters, zero," DeVore said. "Do we really want to spend our taxpayer dollars locking someone up for chickens?"

Efforts to ease Oklahoma's cockfighting laws have triggered opposition from animal rights groups. Animal Wellness Action claims thousands of chickens have been exported from Oklahoma over the past few years. The group says these chickens were bred to be fighters, a claim that Oklahoma gamefowl breeders reject as false.