Here we go again, last year cockfighting had to be made a felony to prevent illegal immigration!  Now cock-fighters are connected to drug cartels and supposedly cause violence.  So here are the facts; there is no connection with drug cartels and as for violence I have never seen a cock-fighter burn buildings, vandalize public and personal property, or physically or verbally assault persons to force their agenda as the animal rights groups frequently do.  Last year members of the House of Representatives were threatened if they voted against making cock-fighting a felony.

As a group we have never spoken up until now for fear of reprisal from animal rights groups.  The hypocrisy is astonishing.  The Humane Society kills more dogs and cats in a week than chicken fighters do nationwide each year.  So in fairness to the law you should also make it a felony to be a member of the Humane Society, PETA, or the ASPCA.  At least there is real evidence of their use of violence and falsification of facts. 

As for bringing Utah state law in line with other states around Utah then we could argue we should legalize gambling, prostitution, and the use of marijuana, legal in states that border Utah. 

As for numbers, the United States kills 13 to 14 billion chickens a year, over 200 billion chickens estimated to be killed per year worldwide. 

One more number - there have been 54 million estimated abortions performed in the United States of America since Roe and Wade.  Giving chickens a higher status than a human being.  We have bigger problems in this state than a handful of chicken fighters.

Sincerely,

Robert Beebe