Senate Passes Farm Bill; Makes Attending an Animal Fight a Federal Crime

Its one of those wait and see things I guess

Thanks for the info, Yearasta.
Let us know if you hear any updates.

will do

Here's a quote from an article I just posted on the Blackfish thread:
I think it applies.

The op-ed’s strongest passage makes the case that tradition is no excuse for exploitive brutality.

“Many past cultural practices, such as slavery, bordellos, and beheading were stopped for ethical reasons,” it stated. “Tradition and culture are forces that change in accordance with new scientific understanding and evolving ethical standards.”

[www.takepart.com]

I would love to see the crab races end too. Crab races are sad events where children are taught it's okay to terrify animals for fun. Many crabs die in the process of starvation and stress.

You can't compare the well run, fun, and harmless enterprise of crab racing to banning the "sport" of cock fighting.

How do you know the crabs are terrified? How do you know the crabs are starved and stressed to death? Do you have any facts to back up your accusations against Tito & Sue?

JulieKay didn't mention any names.

JulieKay didn't mention any names.

Correct, I did not. Crab racing is not only done on STX. I've been to more than one place.

The crabs "race" because they are trying to get away and back to the bush, where they have been held away for weeks at a time, for those that survive. There are always multiple dead crabs at every race.

You don't get to pick and choose animal cruelty. Crab racing is a cruel "sport" that teaches children at an early age it is fine to exploit other living creatures as long as it's "fun." Crab racing is just as cruel as cock fighting. Children see the dead crabs and they are sad. Why do we teach our children this is okay? Children should be taught to appreciate wild creatures and their roles in their habitats, not harvested to "race" for fun like wind up toys.

The fact that you (IslandHops) call it "harmless" shows your cavalier attitude of picking and choosing only certain animals based upon your anthropomorphic feelings. I know many adults on STX who will not attend the races either because they "feel bad for the crabs." We can be better than this.

JulieKay = "Crab racing is just as cruel as cock fighting."

Well that says it all.

I guess a bunch of crabs crawling around is just like they are fighting each other to a barbaric bloody death.

I'll light a candle for their poor traumatized souls.

Please do!

JulieKay = "Crab racing is just as cruel as cock fighting."

Well that says it all.

I guess a bunch of crabs crawling around is just like they are fighting each other to a barbaric bloody death.

I'll light a candle for their poor traumatized souls.

Why do they have to be fighting for it to be cruel? Isn't it cruel enough to remove them from their habitat, confine them, stress/traumatize them for weeks, and then release them again if they don't die?

I'd like to see that done to a human being and have it not called "cruel." I guess crabs just qualify as playthings.

Can we go after the people who keep 'pet' fish in fish tanks next? That has to be just like an aquatic prison - more poor traumatized little souls.

Yet, seriously, I support all efforts against animal cruelty and barbaric 'sports' - well not counting Rugby and Ausi-Rules of course. I personally don't consider the crab racing I've seen falls into that category. Let's stick to the main agenda item and focus on ending the barbaric cock fighting operations and table the rest.

Can we go after the people who keep 'pet' fish in fish tanks next? That has to be just like an aquatic prison - more poor traumatized little souls.

Yet, seriously, I support all efforts against animal cruelty and barbaric 'sports' - well not counting Rugby and Ausi-Rules of course. I personally don't consider the crab racing I've seen falls into that category. Let's stick to the main agenda item and focus on ending the barbaric cock fighting operations and table the rest.

Sorry, no, I won't table cruelty to any living creature, especially a creature removed from its habitat specifically for the purpose of entertainment.

I do not agree with wild fish kept in tanks that are wild caught, especially reef fish. We can discuss that too, if you like.

But your attitude that crabs are "less" and it is okay to exploit them for fun and is not barbaric is ridiculous. Did you know hermit crabs are cannibals under stress? Does the fact that they will attack and eat each other as they are being kept for human "fun and amusement" make it any more barbaric for you?

I'm a wildlife biologist btw, specializing in aquatics. So yes, I have an opinion on this. It isn't "harmless fun" and what it teaches our children is even worse. But I guess it's okay to torture other living creatures just because they're small and have shells.

However I will make this my last post as I know this thread is specifically about cock fighting. But we do need to start to wake up to ALL barbaric animal cruelty as it exists, not just in the VI, but elsewhere too.

The reason we are having issues with invasive species such as the Lionfish in our waters is that people decided they looked lovely in a home aquarium so brought from their native habitat waters where they have natural predators that keep them in check. When they escaped they reproduced rapidly having no predators and pose great dangers to our underwater environment.

Wild creatures belong in the wild. We have no right to take them, whatever they may be, large or minuscule, land, air or water creatures from their habitats for personal gain, recreation, exploitation or any other reason.

Cock fighting is barbaric as is dog fighting. The majority of states even make it illegal to have in possession paraphernalia relating to these activities. If you truly wish to make a difference, contact your Senators and request they make cock fighting illegal and join the 21st century.

You can make the difference because we all know they won't do it on their own.

On February 8-9, the ASPCA, the Ulster County Sheriff’s Office and the New York State Police, assisted with the removal, transport and sheltering of as many as 3,000 fighting roosters in the largest cockfighting case in New York State history.

The ASPCA seized 65 birds as a result of a cockfighting bust by law enforcement agencies in Woodhaven, Queens. Six arrests were made for violation of the animal fighting law. The ASPCA also discovered rooster carcasses that had been killed earlier in the night during the cockfighting event.

Simultaneously, police executed a search warrant at a pet shop in Brooklyn, resulting in the seizure of 50 roosters as well as other animals including hamsters, finches, rabbits and snakes. ASPCA responders found the roosters living inside metal cages in the basement of the pet shop, with physical alterations to the roosters consistent with cockfighting.

At both properties, cockfighting paraphernalia, including artificial spurs, candle wax, medical adhesive tape, syringes used to inject performance enhancing drugs to strengthen the roosters’ fighting ability, was discovered.

The following morning, February 9, the ASPCA assisted law enforcement agencies as they raided a 90-acre farm where as many as 3,000 roosters and hens were seized. The ASPCA established a temporary shelter at an undisclosed location, where the birds will be cared for and housed pending disposition.

Cockfighting is illegal in all 50 states. With your help, we can save thousands of animal victims from blood sports like cockfighting and dog fighting. Thank you for your support.

This is another one of those situations where an initiative may be the only solution...just like riding in the back of trucks and same-sex marriage...I can't see a senator taking it up right now

It is time for the Anti-Cruelty Laws for Animals to be revisited and FORCE our senators to take on what is "the right thing to do!"

We can do it IF we are all ready, willing and able to contact them and make our views well known,
Old saying" Squeaky wheel, gets the grease!

Of course the senators don't want to take it up "right now."
Let's do our BEST! Are any of you willing to do so?

More to come.

Imagine the money that would be coming in if the police only enforced the laws we have already!

I must say though...the lack of enforcement at so many levels makes living here better in some ways.

Where I came from, law enforcement was always looked upon as a form of tax collection, ie: speeding tickets are just a tax on going fast.

No such thing here!

According to the delegate...she said the law does not affect, The VI, Guam and PR....

It figures. So we can just go on our merry way allowing the abuse and cruelty to continue.
Just what exactly does cock fighting bring to the VI coffers that these senators don't want to touch it?
The licensing fee is rediculously small. It is a draw for some of the lowest elements in our society
who give nothing back in return, it promotes gambling which I doubt the IRB ever gets a red penney of and continues to perpetute
this horrendous cruelty.

Doubt Donna C wants to get involved either since she's got her eyes on a certain elevated position here at home.

Sunshinefun is right tho, there is so little enforcement for the laws that are already in place that if it weren't so pathethic it would be laughable.

I am soooooo disgusted.

Today on a radio show Donna pointed out that even though posession of marijuana is a federal crime, the feds are not stopping states like Colorado from allowing sale and posession. She indicated that the same could apply here regarding cock fighting and that she has requested the AG to investigate.

It's obvious that she does not want to lose a large voting population by supporting this part of the farm bill.

No, she's eyeing a throne closer to home and will pander doing the right thing in favor of votes as is usual in the VI which is why we have so many issues that don't go away or get fixed.

listening to the vibe this morning, senator nelson was on there and if i heard him correctly he thought cock/dog fighting was okay. many people make the statement that it is culture. slavery was culture too.

yep speee1dy you heard correct..,,:-o at least Dexter had some sense

The delegate is in a tough spot...trying to balance this while trying to become Gov...but I don't see why they want to compare this to Col and Wash...Eventually Marijuana will be legal across the board like as it should be,,,hell there is even a country's government that is selling it for a dollar a gram...so it only makes sense for the US AG to "turn their backs" and sit back and watch...so of course they are hands off...it's like an experiment to test the progression for everyone...

But isn't asking them to give us the same hands off attitude for cockfighting moving backwards?

I love how everyone wants to talk about how deep rooted in the culture it is... well I really hope that a group of people from ne Africa doesn't moves here and set up a little community...genital mutilation is a very "deep-rooted" part of their culture in that region...I guess we would all turn our backs and say...it's ok...it's their culture....child brides is another

Slavery was once part of the "culture" but we evolved.
It's too bad Sen Nelson isn't as progressive and forward thinking about animal cruelty laws as he is about smoking pot and legalizing marijuana. He and others like him in leadership positions disgust me with their attitude and agenda towards cock fighting and dog fighting. As long as they have to power to not make changes, this brutality and cruelty will continue.

By the way, as a 12 generation Virgin Islander I can tell you that cock and dog fighting was never a part of OUR culture.
It is a part of a "lowlife" culture that was brought here from elsewhere.