Advocates speak in support of cockfighting bill

More people are teaming up to support increased penalties for cockfighting in Alabama. A new TV ad is running encouraging Alabama lawmakers to support increasing fines from $50 to $6,000.

In Homewood Tuesday, the Director of Animal Cruelty Policy at the Humane Society of the United States says the bill in Montgomery is a top priority.

"It's a cruel activity. They put knives on the roosters and they fight to the death and it's a potentially profitable gambling crime," John Goodwin said.

The head of the Greater Birmingham Humane Society hopes this is last time she will have to stand in front of the media asking for support of the bill.

"Probably the most disturbing thing is that children participate in gambling," Jacque Meyer, Executive Director of GBHS, said.

In the latest ad Richard Land, the President of the Southern Baptist Convention, is speaking out against cockfighting call it "a pornography of violence." A Bessemer pastor joined the opposition Tuesday.

"To me it's also a moral issue. Any thinking person would think that the practice of deriving pleasure or profit from [cockfighting] is barbaric," Kim Pilkinton, Pastor of First Christian of Bessemer said.

Jefferson County Sheriff Mike Hale says he wants tougher penalties to drive away cockfighting.

"Where are you going to go? Are you going to a state with stiff penalties and you will lose a lot of your money you want to take home? Or, are you going to Alabama with a fifty dollar fine," Hale said.

But the Gamefowl Breeders Association remains totally opposed to the bill, saying it gives too much power to the Alabama Department of Agriculture and Industries. The association said their objections are about more than the increased penalties for cockfighting.

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