Officials say stricter state legislation is the only way cockfighting and its associated crimes can be curtailed within Tennessee's borders.
The raid of a cockfight near Ducktown, Tenn., Saturday is a battle won in a long war against the crime in the Southeast, law enforcement officials say. But the battle is uphill since cockfighting is only a misdemeanor in Tennessee while it's a felony in neighboring Virginia, North Carolina and Georgia.
"People really aren't deterred by a misdemeanor on their record like they are by a felony. The penalty just isn't stiff enough," said Drew Robinson, assistant district attorney for the 10th Judicial District, which will be prosecuting spectators and participants in the Polk County case.
"With all this criminal conduct centered around cockfighting pits, why has legislature not turned off this magnet that keeps drawing these people into the state?" asked John Goodwin, manager of animal fighting issues for the Humane Society of the United States.
For one year in 1989, cockfighting was made a felony in Tennessee, although it was switched back to a misdemeanor the next year. Two bills to return the crime to felony status have gone before the state legislature in the past three years, and both have died.
The first was to make cockfighting a felony. It passed both House and Senate Judiciary committees, but it died in the Finance Committee. The second bill was to increase the penalties for cockfighting spectators. It passed the Senate but died in the House's Agriculture Subcommittee.
The Polk County investigation was initiated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture inspector general as a part of a wider crackdown on cockfighting in the Southeast. The federal government has become involved because the fighting rings and commerce they generate cross state lines.
OTHER RECENT COCKFIGHTING BUSTS IN TENNESSEE May 2009 -- Authorities raid cockfight at the Shiloh Game Club in Lewis County, Tenn. More than 300 spectators were at the event, including children. June 2009 -- The Rutherford County sheriff's office arrested and charged a homeowner with cockfighting after finding more than 75 people watching cockfighting on the man's property. March 2010 -- More than 60 people arrested at Murray County, Ga. cockfight. May 2010 -- Knoxville television station WATE videotapes cockfight in Union County. Authorities reported they knew nothing of the activity.
Officials say cockfights traditionally are connected to other criminal activity, including commercial gambling rings, possession of illegal firearms, money laundering, narcotics trafficking and bribing of public officials.
"You see these raids and media exposes continue, but it just continues to be a problem," Mr. Goodwin said.
The Polk County bust was just one more in a string of raids in the area over the past five years. The search warrant, conducted by the Tennessee Highway Patrol, was the result of several months of undercover investigation by Polk County Sheriff's Department and USDA undercover officers.
On Saturday, Polk County Sheriff's deputies, USDA and Internal Revenue Service agents raided the property of Steve Allen in the Grassy Creek Community in Polk County, finding more than 100 people attending a cockfight.
The names of those involved in Saturday's fight have not yet been released, but Mr. Goodwin, who went on the raid, said he saw many license plates from Georgia and Tennessee.
Agents discovered about 140 fighting roosters, all of which were euthanized because they cannot be placed with regular chickens because of their fighting training and often are in bad physical shape and pumped full of drugs, officials said.
About $20,000 in cash was seized from participants and spectators, as were marijuana and pills, officials said.
Mr. Goodwin said the main participants in East Tennessee are families who have been in the area for a long time and consider cockfighting a tradition.
"One man had brought his little girl to Saturday's fight and made her watch it," said Mr. Goodwin, who covers cockfighting cases across the county. "She was crying, and he was yelling at her for crying. She was being exposed to all that blood and violence and gambling at 8 years old."
Mr. Goodwin says he commonly sees children at cockfights that are raided.
"Even if you aren't concerned with the animals' suffering, you need to see that there's a serious problem with letting this continue," he said.
Continue reading by following these links to related stories:
Article: Tennessee laws draw cockfighters