Posted on: Tuesday, July 30, 2002

EDITORIAL
Cockfighting does not advance any culture

As one of the participants in a cockfight in Wai'anae was being arrested during a police raid Sunday, he lamented: "How can I stop my culture?"

Since when does it advance anyone's culture to attach razor-sharp spurs to the legs of roosters and watch them shred one another to the death? The early Romans fed Christians to the lions, but that dark period of "Italian culture" certainly hasn't endured, and nor should cockfighting.

Sure, the lucrative bloodsport has been around for centuries. It was all the rage in Elizabethan England and is legal today in the Philippines.

But forgive us if we don't buy the rationale that cockfighting should be tolerated because it's an ethnic tradition. In New Mexico, where the sport has been wildly popular, 76 percent of Hispanics recently supported a cockfighting ban. (Hispanics too have argued that cockfighting is part of their culture)

On O'ahu, another poll found that that more than 90 percent of residents consider cockfighting a cruel sport.

We're not talking wholesome family entertainment here. Cocks are fed amphetamines and other drugs to maximize their aggression and even the so-called winners come away with punctured lungs, gouged eyes and broken wings.

That's why Hawai'i needs to make it a felony to organize or manage a cockfight. It's now a misdemeanor. Those caught engaging in the bloodsport frequently face a fine of $75.

And to those who claim they're perpetuating their culture by siccing roosters on one another, practice your heritage elsewhere and remove this embarrassment from Hawai'i.