Editorial: Alabama's dark secret

It seemed like everything was going Michael Vick’s way before his involvement in a dog fighting ring was revealed in 2007. He was tried and convicted on federal and state animal fighting charges, spent time in jail and ultimately went bankrupt. When he emerged from the mess, he was a staunch advocate of a congressional proposal to make watching animal fights a crime.

As bad as Vick’s legal problems were, his public image was worse. Among animal lovers, dogs are sacrosanct.  As for pitting dogs against each other until maimed or killed for entertainment and profit, many people believe you just can’t get much lower.

Yet across the nation – and, particularly, in Alabama – cockfights are held regularly despite being illegal in 39 states.

In Alabama, fighting chickens is illegal, but the penalty has not been updated since the bloodsport was prohibited in 1896. The fine for cockfighting is $50, which was substantial at the turn of the 19^th Century.  That fine is still $50 today, which would be less than $2 to an illegal cockfighter in 1896.

Because of our low penalties, illegal cockfighters are flocking to Alabama to put their birds in the pit, which are often permanent structures with spectator areas, public address systems and snack bars, purses for the winners and betting among participants and spectators. 

A proposal to increase the penalties for cockfighting and add penalties for spectators, and for taking children to cockfights is planned for introduction in the legislative session that begins this week.

Considering that cockfighting is illegal, and that it’s extraordinarily violent, and is a vehicle for illegal gambling, it would seem that updating the penalties would draw no opposition.

That’s not the case.

For the past three years, legislation to strengthen laws against cockfighting has been opposed by the Alabama Gamefowl Breeders Association, which has successfully defeated the bills.

It’s a curious alliance.  Gamefowl breeders associations like the AGBA are described as organizations for enthusiasts and breeders of show birds.   AGBA distances itself from illegal activity, yet investigations initiated by the U.S. Humane Society have found evidence of AGBA involvement in organized cockfights in Alabama. And to help with its opposition to the cockfighting bill, AGBA has secured the services of a lobbyist, former lawmaker Ken Guin, an attorney from Carbon Hill.

It’s difficult to understand why gamefowl breeders would oppose a measure to strengthen penalties for an illegal activity they claim is unrelated to their business.

It also defies logic that state officials would go to great lengths to derail electronic bingo, the legality of which is murky, while allowing illegal cockfighting -- and the illegal gambling that comes with it – to remain under the radar.

Had Michael Vick been fighting dogs in Alabama, he’d probably still be in the animal pit business.