WASHINGTON — The Louisiana Supreme Court today upheld a Caddo Parish ordinance banning cockfighting, reversing two lower court decisions.
"The cockfighters' efforts to protect their cruel pastime through the judicial system have been met with a resounding rebuke in today's Supreme Court ruling," said Jonathan R. Lovvorn, vice president of animal protection litigation for The Humane Society of the United States.
The ruling is one of the court's first decisions since resuming operations after Hurricane Katrina. Attorneys representing promoters and operators of cockfighting pits in Caddo Parish had prevailed in two lower court decisions which found that local authorities lack the power to prohibit cockfighting, but Louisiana's high court reversed those decisions today.
Last year, lawyers for the HSUS Animal Protection Litigation section submitted arguments to the Court supporting the position of the Sheriff of Caddo Parish, who is trying to enforce a local ordinance that bans cockfighting. Louisiana is one of only two states that do not ban cockfighting. Caddo Parish banned the practice in 1987 and several other local parishes have also enacted ordinances banning cockfighting.
Today's decision by Louisiana's highest state court follows a ruling by the U.S. District Court for Western Louisiana upholding amendments to the Animal Welfare Act that prohibit interstate commerce in birds for fighting purposes.
"With today's ruling, the Louisiana Supreme Court rejected the plaintiff's invitation to strip local parishes of their time-honored right to prohibit practices such as cockfighting that pose threats to the health, safety, and morals of the community," said Lovvorn.
According to a 2004 poll conducted by Hill Research Consultants, 82 percent of Louisiana voters favor a ban on cockfighting, with 71 percent strongly in favor of it.
The threat of avian flu has renewed efforts in Congress to crack down on cockfighting, which is implicated in the spread of the disease in Asia. The American Veterinary Medical Association, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the National Chicken Council, and more than 350 law enforcement organizations nationwide have endorsed the federal bill.
The Humane Society of the United States is the nation's largest animal protection organization with more than 9.5 million members and constituents. The HSUS is a mainstream voice for animals, with active programs in companion animals and equine protection, wildlife and habitat protection, animals in research and farm animals and sustainable agriculture. The HSUS protects all animals through education, investigation, litigation, legislation, advocacy, and field work. The non-profit organization is based in Washington and has field representatives across the country. On the web at hsus.org.
