Some friends of mine are going down to New Orleans in February.
We were talking about how cockfights are still legal in Louisiana and I got to thinking: exactly where does one go in La. to see a legal cockfight? is there an arena set up? is it a professional venue kind of like going to the dog track? Are there legal gambling booths set up?
Or is it like I imagine: a dirty affair taking place at some back road farm with illegal gambling going on.
I can’t speak for Louisiana, but cockfighting was legal in Oklahoma until the last general election. (Even now, sheriffs and judges aren’t enforcing the new law.)
I am proud to say that I have never been to the cockfights but the people that I know that have describe them exactly like that.
According to what KRM said, the ban on cockfighting in Oklahoma may well be up to the counties a la “dry/wet counties”, if Sen. Shurden gets his way…
http://newsok.com/cgi-bin/show_article?ID=957046&pic=none&TP=getarticle
No professional venue or anything close to that nice. Your friends would have a hard time finding a cock fight, not that they’d be missing anything. However, let them know that if they see a yard with lots of corrugated metal miniature tent thingies in it, that’s the home of fighting cocks. Maybe if they stuck around those areas, they’d find one. If they are really set on the idea, because they’re more likely to be shot than invited to the next round.
Bleachers for the crowd
A fighting area laid out like a boxing ring
A 5 foot tall trophy topped with a chromed rooster.
BUT, wait there’s more!!!
Metal spikes are taped over the rooster’s spurs.
Most of their feathers are plucked.
In order to make them more agressive, the roosters are given small cuts. Then training aids such as pepper are rubbed into the wounds.
While details may differ, you can expect to see similiar examples of humanity’s inherent nobility and kindness.