After long battle, Tennessee cockfighting opponents finally win a round

The interior of the barn shows the cock fighting ring and grandstand in Grassy Creek, Tenn., in this file photo. (Tom Farrow/Polk County (TN) Sheriff's Office)
The interior of the barn shows the cock fighting ring and grandstand in Grassy Creek, Tenn., in this file photo. (Tom Farrow/Polk County (TN) Sheriff's Office)

TENNESSEE ANIMAL FIGHTING RAIDS AND ARRESTS

Below are some of the cockfighting and dogfighting raids conducted over the last five years. 2009 Memphis - Police arrest a man on cockfighting charges and seized 88 birds. He came under suspicion when cockfighting knives were found in his luggage on a flight from Detroit. Sumner County - cockfight in Bethpage. 48 were arrested and 78 roosters seized. Lewis County - The Shiloh Game Club is raided by federal and state agents. Nearly 300 were arrested, about 200 animals seized, and over $30,000 in cash confiscated. Rutherford County - Cockfight of about 75 people raided, but only 1 man was charged due to the fact a single officer drove up and everyone scattered. 2010 Polk County - A large pit is raided in Copperhill in June. 104 people are arrested, and 150 birds were seized. Memphis - Two people arrested and four live dogs seized in March. Later in the month, another person is arrested on dogfighting charges in Memphis and another dog is seized. 2011 Hawkins County- Gamefowl farm in Hawkins County raided. One person was arrested, and 170 gamefowl seized Hamblen County - Thirty-seven people were arrested when a cockfight was raided in Hamblen County. Thirty birds were seized. Memphis - A total of seven arrests made on separate dogfighting charges; overall, 18 dogs found. One person arrested in a small raid in which five gamefowl were seized. Kingsport - Three people arrested on dogfighting; three dogs recovered. 2012 Crossville - Three people arrested at a cockfight at which five birds were seized. Morristown - One person arrested as gamefowl farm is raided and 18 birds are seized Hawkins County - A gamecock and pit bull operation is uncovered, and one person is arrested. Twenty-one dogs and 20 birds are seized. (double chk) Ashland City - Sixty-five dogs recovered and four people arrested on cockfighting charges. Bedford County - One person arrested at a cockfight. 2013 Hawkins County - Seven people arrested as a cockfight is raided in January. Lewis County - Four people are indicted on federal charges stemming from 2009 cockfighting bust. Davidson County - Two people arrested as a gamefowl farm is raided. Sixty birds are seized. Memphis - In January, four dogs recovered and one person arrested on cockfighting charges. In April, Forty-four fowl seized and one person arrested as a gamefowl farm is raided. Chattanooga - One man arrested on dogfighting charge and 12 dogs recovered. 2014 Memphis - A gamefowl farm is raided in October, with 40 fowl seized and one person arrested. A separate report lists another raid in Memphis later that month, where one is arrested and over 50 fowl are seized. In December, 24 dogs are seized and one person is arrested on dogfighting charges. Nashville - Thirty-eight dogs recovered from dogfighting operation connected to millions in money laundering and drugs; two people arrested. Sevier County - Fifty dogs recovered from game dog breeder Sin City Kennels. Sullivan County - Gamefowl farm raided in December; one arrested. 2015 Graysville - A cockfight is raided this January. Three people are arrested. Source: Humane Society of the United States

Every time Tom Farrow has infiltrated a cockfighting pit and scanned the crowd, he has always spotted kids.

The longtime animal-fighting investigator has watched children clutch dead roosters in their hands, bumping the limp birds against each other in mock-duels. He's seen teenagers count out small amounts of cash, placing bets for the first time. He remembers the tiny girl being scolded by her father for crying at a cockfight that was raided in Polk County in 2010.

"I've never been to a cockfight when there weren't kids. And I've been to a heck of a lot of cockfights," said Farrow, a retired FBI agent now considered one of the leading experts on cockfighting investigations.

After a frustrating eight-year battle to tighten Tennessee laws against cockfighting, an effort to keep children away from the fights was at the heart of lawmakers' first breakthrough to increase the penalties for the practice.

Though cockfighting -- which involves attaching knives called "gaffs" to roosters' legs and having them fight to the death -- was banned as a cruel blood sport in Tennessee in 1881, the state has long been considered a magnet for such fights because its laws are so lax. For years, the only punishment for attending a cockfight has been a $50 slap on the wrist. During one recent bust as sheriff's deputies wrote up citations, the spectators being fined just laughed, Tennessee Sen. Bill Ketron said during a legislative committee meeting this spring.

Every year since 2008, advocates have fought to get state legislators to approve bills that would make fighting with birds a felony. And every year, those bills died in committees.

But not this year. In near-unanimous votes in both the House and the Senate, Tennessee lawmakers voted overwhelmingly -- 97 of the 99 House members, and 32 of the 33 senators -- to raise the misdemeanor penalties for attending animal fights. They also added a charge for adults who bring anyone under 18 to a fight.

The heightened penalty still is not a felony, as the bill's sponsors and advocates had originally hoped. Tennessee is one of just 10 states where cockfighting is only a misdemeanor, meaning punishable by no more than 11 months, 29 days in jail. Felonies are punishable by a year or more in state prison and loss of certain civil rights, including voting or holding office.

But proponents still cheer the bill's passage. It's a key step in the larger fight, they say.

"When you focused on spectators bringing in children, that put people in a difficult position politically," said longtime co-sponsor Rep. John Lundberg, R-Bristol.

"Since Day 1 of sponsoring this legislation, I have always had a huge problem with the fact that children are attending them," said Ketron, R-Murfreesboro, who has co-sponsored the legislation for three years. "I've seen photos of little girls, 9 years old or so, in the cockfighting pit, collecting the money."

Introducing kids to animal fights involving dogs, roosters, or other animals "produces another element of folks who don't have a respect for life," said Terry Ashe, president of the Tennessee Sheriffs Association, testifying before a Tennessee House committee on April 1.

COCKFIGHTING IN THE SOUTHEAST

Cockfighting is a crime in all 50 states. It is a felony in 40 states, and a misdemeanor in 10. Here is how Southeastern states classify the crime: FELONY Georgia North Carolina Virginia Florida MISDEMEANOR Tennessee Alabama Kentucky South Carolina Mississippi Louisiana

Cockfighters in the state have argued that rooster fights are an age-old cultural tradition and social event as standard as Friday night football. From Thanksgiving to mid-July, cockfights are held weekly in rural areas and at least a dozen pits are operating in Tennessee, the Humane Society of the United States estimates. Three men were charged in Graysville, Tenn., for a small cockfight in January.

Advocates such as the Humane Society have long stressed the links between animal fighting and other crimes like gambling, money laundering and drug-trafficking as proof that the practice is about more than rural heritage.

Conservative opponents to the legislation are skeptical of the Humane Society's political agenda. Others, like Sen. Frank Niceley, R-Strawberry Plains, say the people who fight roosters "are not bothering anybody."

"It's been going on for centuries," he told the Times Free Press in 2011. "I don't know what the big deal is."

Another major boost came from the Southern Baptist Convention's Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, a vocal opponent of animal fighting.

"Scripture says that man is expected to care for animals," commission President Russell Moore said in a phone interview last week. "God knows every sparrow that falls from the sky. This sort of barbarous cruelty to animals dehumanizes people."

Moore sent a strongly worded letter urging every Tennessee lawmaker to support Ketron and Lundberg's bill "so our state is no longer a symbol of bad deeds." The commission also launched a publicity campaign within its churches and on social media to drum up support for the bill.

"This should be a clear message to the cockfighters that all those opposed to cockfighting are going to win," said John Goodwin, the Humane Society of the United States director of animal cruelty policy. "They couldn't pick up more than three votes in the Legislature. That means something."

He and the bill's sponsors agree that the law could lead to more arrests and prosecutions.

"This gives our officers more tools, instead of having to waste their time," Lundberg said.

Niceley cast the single 'no' vote in the Senate. The two House no votes came from Reps. Kelly Keisling, R-Byrdstown, and Barry Doss, R-Leoma. None of the three returned phone calls or emails requesting comment Friday.

The bill is now on its way to Gov. Bill Haslam's desk. Dave Smith, the governor's spokesman, said Haslam "will review it in its final form before taking any action on it."

Looking ahead, Ketron and Lundberg are confident it won't be long before cockfighting is upgraded to a felony.

Last year, the FBI said it would begin classifying animal cruelty crimes a Group A felony, the most serious category of crime, to better identify pet abusers -- an early indicator of other violent crimes, federal officials say. And starting next year, the bureau will begin releasing data on animal cruelty.

Meanwhile, the federal farm bill passed in 2014 includes the Animal Fighting Spectator Prohibition Act, which bars audiences from fights and calls for three years in prison and a $250,000 fine for people convicted of bringing a child under 16 to a dogfight or cockfight.

"I often find it hard to believe that we're in 2015 and we're still talking about all this," said Farrow. "But we're making progress."

Contact staff writer Kate Belz at kbelz@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6673.

WHAT DOES THE LAW DO?

Before the bill, it was a Class B misdemeanor to attend a cockfight -- typically punishable by a $50 dollar fine. The bill increases the penalty for attending any animal fight to a Class A misdemeanor, punishable by up to 11 months, 29 days in jail. It also says bringing a child under 18 to any animal fight is punishable by a minimum $1,000 fine. Source: HB962/SB1024

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