By Sue Major Holmes/
Associated Press
A judge has rejected an effort to kill the state's cockfighting ban.
State District Judge William McBee of Lovington on Wednesday declined to issue an injunction sought by the New Mexico Gamefowl Breeders Association and six businessmen to prevent the ban from being enforced.
The ban, which went into effect June 15, makes participating in a cockfight a misdemeanor for the first two offenses and a felony punishable by up to 18 months in prison for subsequent offenses.
McBee said the plaintiffs did not appear to have standing to challenge the law. He also said he was "deeply persuaded" by the state's arguments, the Hobbs News-Sun reported.
Ronald Barron of Artesia, president of the gamefowl breeders group, said Thursday he will call the association's board of directors together to decide the next step. He said the meeting probably would be after the holidays.
"I don't think we have a choice but to appeal it, even if we have to go all the way to the New Mexico Supreme Court," he said.
Had the cockfighters prevailed, the state would have appealed, he said.
The 19-page lawsuit, filed July 5, argued that prohibiting cockfighting violated rights protected under the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, which ended the Mexican-American War and made New Mexico a U.S. territory.
Attorney Mark Pollot of Boise, Idaho, who represented the challengers, repeated that argument in court.
"It's not about whether cockfighting is a good thing or a bad thing," he said.
Assistant Attorney General Scott Fuqua said the group's arguments about treaty rights centered on civil, not criminal, statutes such as the cockfighting law.
"You can't point to the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo and say the conduct I want to engage in is a cultural right," Fuqua said.
The lawsuit also argued that lawmakers failed to follow constitutionally required procedures when passing the ban. The state attorney general's office said the Legislature acted properly.
Barron was disappointed in the judge's decision.
"No one realizes how many thousands of people this has hurt," he said. "They should have let it (decisions on cockfighting) go county by county. They took the county's rights away from them, too."
He added: "We get treated real bad because of what we do. These animal rights people, they're always saying a bunch of stuff about us that aren't true. I've never even had a speeding ticket. I think I'm pretty well respected in my community."
A spokeswoman for Animal Protection of New Mexico did not immediately return a phone call from The Associated Press seeking comment.
In a cockfight, two roosters fitted with blades or gaffs on their legs are placed into a pit and fight until one is dead or badly wounded. Although gambling on fights is illegal, spectators openly bet on the outcome.
Opponents had pushed for more than two decades to ban cockfighting, but the effort gained momentum earlier this year with first-ever endorsements from Gov. Bill Richardson and the New Mexico Conference of Catholic Bishops.
Several New Mexico counties had already banned the bloodsport before the statewide law was passed.
Supporters of the ban, including animal-rights activists, argue that cockfighting is cruel and should have been outlawed long ago.
Challengers, however, contended the ban prohibits people from participating in a culturally important sport; costs income and destroys businesses; destroys lifestyles and recreational activities; and has a chilling effect on people who fear arrest and confiscation of their birds and equipment by police who can't distinguish between birds kept for fighting and those kept for other reasons.
Barron said the ruling basically said the treaty doesn't matter.
"We've got to figure out if the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo means anything to the people of New Mexico. ... Was it just for land grants? Was it just for water rights? I feel like it was for people's rights, period," Barron said.
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