It’s time for South Carolina to toughen cockfighting penalties

The following editorial appeared Tuesday in the Charleston Post and Courier:

Cockfighting has a long, if inglorious, tradition in South Carolina. Maybe that explains why lawmakers haven’t been willing to make the penalties on cockfighting as tough as those related to dog fighting. But Saturday’s raid in Marlboro County, in which 27 were arrested, has properly renewed the debate.

At the least, the Legislature should make a second offense for cockfighting a felony.

At present, all offenses are misdemeanors, though there is a rising scale of penalties. Only eight other states are as lax when it comes to cockfighting.

Cockfighting is almost always accompanied by gambling, which also is illegal in South Carolina. And like its counterpart of dog fighting, drugs are sometimes involved.

“The fights themselves are inhumane for the animals involved, but so many crimes come about at these events,” Marlboro County Sheriff Fred Knight said, citing gambling, drugs and associated violence.

Even so, some cockfighting fans view a day at the cockpit as a family affair.

In the Marlboro raid, for instance, it was reported that three children were present.

A bill pending in the House would make it a crime to bring a child to a cockfight – a reasonable penalty for exposing a youngster to such a cruel “sport.” Gamecocks typically fight to the death.

That bill also would make it a crime to possess cockfighting paraphernalia, such as the metal gaffs that are attached to roosters’ legs to make them more deadly.

Sheriff Knight said it was the second cockfighting ring his department has broken up in the last 10 years. Seven of those arrested on Saturday were from North Carolina, where cockfighting is a felony.

Clearly, South Carolina’s comparatively lax penalties work as an incentive for cockfighting in South Carolina.

“It takes a lot of planning, manpower and hard work to successfully complete this type of case,” Sheriff Knight said. That’s another good reason to make South Carolina’s laws against cockfighting tougher.

Cockfighting has a history in this state, and the Legislature should work with law enforcement to relegate it permanently to the past.

This story was originally published April 3, 2015 at 8:00 AM with the headline "It’s time for South Carolina to toughen cockfighting penalties."