Cockfighting

Two men intent on stealing back a flock of cockfighting roosters from a Bakersfield animal shelter Friday had their middle-of-the-night plan interrupted by California Highway Patrol officers, authorities said. The men were apprehended near the Bakersfield Animal Shelter carrying burlap sacks containing feathers, said Lt. Brad Wahl of the Bakersfield Police Department.

Democratic Gov. Bill Richardson signed legislation in Santa Fe that outlaws cockfighting, leaving Louisiana as the only state where the centuries-old blood sport remains legal. The prohibition takes effect June 15.

As the Legislature wrapped up its regular session, debating tax cuts, the minimum wage and clean energy, one issue stood out for the amount of controversy it generated: cockfighting. This state was one of only two in the nation to allow the sport, albeit only in counties far from the galleries and restaurants of this capital city. Then Gov. Bill Richardson last week signed a bill to outlaw cockfighting, which has become a symbol of New Mexico's growing cultural divide.

IN the center ring where Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier pummeled each other through 14 rounds of the "Thrilla in Manila" more than three decades ago, another world-championship blood fest was in full swing. The deftest moves and deepest cuts drew shouts of "Fight back!" and "Peck! Peck!" from spectators hanging on every move, illuminated larger than life on the electronic scoreboard's color video display. Most had fists full of cash wagered on the outcome.

Louisiana will ban cockfighting next year, becoming the last state to outlaw the blood sport, under a bill approved Wednesday by the Legislature. Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco's office said she would sign the measure, which bans the rural tradition in which specially bred roosters fight to the death while spectators bet on the outcome. For years, state lawmakers resisted animal-rights activists' efforts to outlaw it, but they relented this year on the condition that the prohibition be delayed.

SAN DIEGO -- Fifty people have been criminally charged and more than 5,000 birds seized after a six-month investigation into a cockfighting operation near the Mexican border, authorities said Monday. More arrests are expected, they said, as the investigation continues into an operation that sold fighting birds to devotees of the blood sport in mainland United States, Hawaii and the Philippines, where cockfighting is legal.

Authorities have arrested three people in connection with a cockfighting ring in Santa Barbara County, the area's second cockfighting bust in just over a month. Pai Chang, 55, Richard Chang Yang, 45, and Xue Vang, 36, were arrested for investigation of possessing fighting roosters and cockfighting paraphernalia after a three-week investigation, said Sheriff's Sgt. Martin Eberling.

Police have issued citations to 24 people they say attended an illegal cockfight in an abandoned mortuary southwest of downtown Los Angeles, authorities said Monday. Police responding to a call about the cockfight about 9 p.m. Friday discovered nearly 100 people gathered at the site on Bonsallo Avenue near West Washington Boulevard. Many of the suspects fled the scene, but police said they detained 24 of the spectators. One, a parolee, was taken into custody.

Hoping to quell the amount of crowing across the city, the Los Angeles City Council passed a law today limiting the number of roosters that each household can own. On a 12-0 vote, the council agreed to allow only one rooster per property unless such birds are part of a "permitted and licensed commercial, agricultural or industrial business" -- and on a street with the proper zoning. Roosters can be heard in a number of neighborhoods in the city, from Wilmington near the harbor to the northern edge of the San Fernando Valley.

A South Los Angeles man has been charged with running a cockfighting ring, the district attorney's office announced Wednesday. Israel Ramirez, 52, was arrested Tuesday night on a warrant charging him with felony cockfighting, animal cruelty, possession of cockfighting paraphernalia and possession of birds with the intent to fight, officials said. Los Angeles police received a tip last month about an alleged cockfight in progress in the 1300 block of East 108th Street, according to a police report.