Tennessee law against cockfighting weak compared to other states

The weekend raid at the Del Rio Cockfight Pit near Newport in rural Cocke County, about 42 miles east of Knoxville, has renewed attention on Tennessee’s legal position against battling roosters and the wagering that goes with it.

Officials say the Del Rio “chicken pit” busted Saturday was possibly the largest illegal cockfighting operation in the country. The ramshackle venue has operated for about 60 years despite at least two raids in the 1980s in which some 400 people were arrested.

More than 300 birds were euthanized, about $40,000 in cash was seized and 144 people charged with misdemeanor cockfighting citations on Saturday, officials said.

Cockfighting was a felony in Tennessee until 1990, when former state Rep. Ronnie Davis of Newport and the late state Sen. Carl Koella Jr. of Maryville succeeded in changing the law.

Today, Tennessee is one of 16 states where cockfighting is a misdemeanor and violators rarely face more than a fine, although judges can send them to jail for short periods of time.

In 32 states, however, cockfighting is a felony that can land violators in prison.

In two states — Louisiana and New Mexico — it remains legal.

The Humane Society of the United States would like to see cockfighting a felony everywhere.

“Activity is most prominent in states where it’s treated as a misdemeanor,” said John Goodwin, a Humane Society official who works on animal-fighting issues. “They (cockfighters) just see a misdemeanor fine as the price of doing business.”

According to Goodwin, the people who breed gamecocks can make so much money from the illegal matches that a citation and fine is no more than an annoyance.

“At these cockfighting derbies, somebody can walk away with $15,000 to $20,000 in a single night,” he said. “A misdemeanor fine and slap on the wrist just isn’t going to be a deterrent when the gain can be so large.”

But Philip Jones, a Cocke County resident who said he breeds gamecocks, said he doesn’t believe the pastime should be illegal at all. “It’s a sport that we enjoy just like other people like hunting and fishing,” he said.

Jones defended those who raise the birds, saying the animals are treated better by their owners than are chickens that are bred for restaurants and dinner tables.

“We give them the chance to live,” he said. “They (the birds) go out there, they prove themselves. We doctor them back into great shape and they spend a happy life on the farm until they die of natural causes. The poultry houses don’t give them a second chance.”