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Undercover Cockfighting Investigation: CBS 42 Exclusive

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Reported by: Mike McClanahan

Published: 7/12/2011 9:13 pm

Updated: 7/12/2011 11:07 pm

CHILTON COUNTY, Ala. (WIAT) - Cockfighting is Alabama's bloody little secret. People bet on roosters who are born and bred to fight to the death. The matches happen in pits down dirt roads all over the state. CBS 42 has obtained undercover video of fights in Central Alabama.

The roosters have sharp metal instruments attached to their legs which may be spikes called "gaffs" or blades called "knives." Typically the roosters stab each other over and over until one dies and the other is declared the winner.

Spectators often have to pay admission at the cockfights. Entering roosters to fight may cost hundreds of dollars per bird. It is not uncommon to see children at the events. Some of the pits even have concession stands.

A Chilton County property owner was charged with cockfighting and promoting gambling after a raid on a suspected cockfighting operation in April.

The Humane Society of the United States is pushing for tougher penalties for those convicted of cockfighting in Alabama.

"This is our third year working to pass legislation that would strengthen the penalties for cockfighting. It is currently illegal in 50 states. Alabama however has the lowest penalty in the nation and the maximum fine for a cockfighting conviction is 50 dollars," said Mindy Gilbert, Humane Society of the United States.

Gilbert says Alabama's relatively weak penalties attract cockfighters or "cockers" from other states.

"Currently 39 states make it a felony. This becomes a very attractive destination to people around the country who are engaged in this sort of thing and so they're bringing their crime to Alabama," said Gilbert. "A penalty needs to offset the gain and I think the biggest problem that we've had getting across to the general public is that this is not a little backyard operation. We looked at video earlier today of a derby in Alabama in which the derby winnings would be $25,000. It's a $500 bird entry fee. Hundreds of people are there. They pay an entry fee to come into the pit. They're paying membership fees to come into the pit. So, there's an extremely large amount of money changing hands and it's pretty well organized."

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Babygirl11 - 7/22/2011 1:16 AM

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I am against animal cruelty when it comes to dogs..But in Alabama we do not eat dogs we have them as companions..however Cockfighting in my opinion is no different then humans consuming them..Almost every person eats chicken on a day to day basis..Just in Alabama 100,000 chickens are killed in meat processing plants daily just to feed people which is 36,500,000 chickens a year that are killed for food.But a funny fact is you can not find a statistic of how many chickens die from Cockfighting which signifies that no one honestly gives a crap. But in the plants where these chickens are bred to die daily if they have any chicken that is a medically disabled chicken they kill it, or if they have a chicken that no longer produces eggs they kill it and they are not always humane with it sometimes they just throw them in garbage bins or "Ring their necks" and if anyone is gonna say that there is any difference between someone who kills chickens on a daily basis because it is their job;that they need to provide for their families and with just a hardworking human who enjoys watching a Cockfight.Simple fact YOU are a pure moron.Either way the chicken was born to die and whether it dies from a Game fight or is killed in a plant to be processed for humans to eat Over 93% of the time it was not killed humanely.Another fact to add is many religions use chickens as a sacrifice to their "God" including a few of these religions Hinduism, Strangite Latter Day Saints, and Lucumi/Santeria.That is freedom of Religion so honestly is it any different than someone doing it as a sport or hobby... You can also read in History books of some of the Americas Foreftathers fought chickens.And in Alabama and many other places across the U.S. People catch Fish on hooks that range in sizes and it cuts the fish and most of the time it does not live afterward..People fish for food, a hobby,a sport ,and most gamble on how many fish or how big the fish..Is there any difference there again NOT REALLY

ross28646 - 7/15/2011 5:14 PM

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What are these people thinking? I would rather have my children watch a game rooster kill another game rooster because of instinct than have them watch two men kill each other in the ring for money. You see little kids running around practicing all these killer moves on each other but I don;t see any kids that attend cockfights running around stabbing each other with cockfighting implements. These people,Sutton and his associates, need to concentrate on other ways to protect our children from growing up to be killers and gangsters and drug dealers . Watching a chicken die is something that we have seen in rural United States since we became a country. I guess city folks have forgotten that you had to chop a chickens head off with an axe and watch it flutter around until it died before you ate it. It didn't make killers out of children. These politicians need to go in a different direction and not attack agricultural customs. The constitution does not give animals any rights before they die regardless of how they die at the hands of the owners as long as it's the customary and traditional way or the way mother nature has intended for them to die.

will f - 7/14/2011 11:02 PM

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There is another story on here from a poultry farmer losing 10,ooo chickens from the heat.Be careful poultry farmers there is always someone else on the H.S.U.S list to go after next do your homework.Special interest groups do not need to control our politicians or our lives.

Big Z - 7/14/2011 1:04 PM

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annabell, you can start making a REAL impact in this world by volunteering to help the disabled, the hungry, or the needy. When that problem is solved, you could move on to planting trees, organic gardening and helping protect the environment. But if you are just hell bent on furthering the erosion of a mans constitutional rights. And you got to have your hand in putting working class people in jail, and tearing families apart...... You could always donate money to you local atheist church A.K.A the church of PETA. You'll fit right in.

annabell - 7/14/2011 11:43 AM

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what can the residents of chilton co do? are there numbers to call if we know of people who raise chickens for this purpose or places where the fights are being held? if we can't get the penalties increased we can at least get them caught more

ross28646 - 7/13/2011 9:09 PM

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Hello all, The argument about the gamefowl industry comes down to two different opinions held by two opposing sides. One side holds the opinion that everyone must complly with their opinion and government agencies and Law Enforcement Officers should be used to subjugate Americans that do not agree with their desire to put chickens above human lives. The other side holds these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and pursuit of happiness and that our government does not have the power to place chickens above our unalienable rights or create a danger to our lives to defend chickens based simply on the opinion of another person or persons. And that we all have equal rights to our opinions and that our government does not have the authority to grant rights to chickens and deprive rural Oklahomans of our consitutional rights and create a danger to our lives and our family members lives over chickens we are simply trying to harvest the same way they've been harvested for over 3,000 years. We are not asking and we are not begging. We are stating a fact that we are entitled to our culture, heritage, pursuit of happiness, liberty, agriculture industry, the fruits of our labor, our property, our dignity, civil rights, human rights, and our constitutional rights to harvest our livestock and earn a living in our attempt to provide for our families in rural Oklahoma and that our elected officials are not upholding their oath to support and defend our constitutional rights and freedoms. That these same elected officials by apathy and dereliction of duty to their oath of office are supporting the destruction of the U.S. Constitution by well funded special interest organizations and affluent politically and socially connected elitists that place a higher value on their opinions than the rural Oklahomans that are being depr

ross28646 - 7/13/2011 8:54 PM

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risking human lives to protect chickens is crazy!alabama has bigger more important things to worry about!

sflongwyatt - 7/13/2011 8:23 PM

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Most of what is wrong with the world today is that too many people want to govern what everybody else does. If you don't like something, don't participate! Worry about how you can make yourself better and quit trying to make others look worse than yourself. They are birds/fowl! They don't pay taxes, they don't have rights. If they "get dead" why does it matter how they got that way? They're still dead...and more are hatching EVERY day. All these people that are so worried about animals should open their doors to them not their mouths about them. Leave others alone and mind your own business.

will f - 7/13/2011 7:19 PM

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Please report something that is actually news.Anyone buying into this please go to HUMANE WATCH .ORG!!

Big Z - 7/13/2011 6:21 PM

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msalabama, you are talking about human rights, not animal rights. Thats the whole problem, people are trying to pretend animals are the same, and should have the same rights as humans. Many of which try to call themselves a Christian. You are implying we put a man in jail, so he can't work, and can't provide for his family, over a chicken! And on top of that, it also cost tax dollars to feed him and house him while he is in jail. Its a chicken, who cares? Do you think chickens have feeling? Or deserve civil rights? hahaha. How many BILLION are slaughtered for food every year? The money we would spend chasing chicken fighters would be more well spent feeding hungry children and helping our fellow man in Alabama. I think I'll go have a chicken sandwich now.

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