'Chicken boxing is not cockfighting', says Louisiana senator who fears new animal rights bill would criminalize the obscure 'bloodless' sport

• Senator J.P. Morrell submitted bill tightening rules on cockfighting
• Senator Elbert Guillory claims bill will threaten 'chicken boxing'
• Guillory says 'chicken boxing' is a legitimate sport
• Senator Guillory claims cockfighting and 'chicken boxing' are very different
• Senator Morrell said Guillory's claims 'sound like someone trying to circumvent cockfighting rules'
  

By Luke Garratt

Published: 04:32 EDT, 2 April 2014 | Updated: 07:24 EDT, 2 April 2014

A Louisiana senator has come out in favor of what he calls 'chicken boxing', a less bloody form of cockfighting, by opposing a bill that would close loopholes in the poultry fighting business and shut down the sport.

Republican Senator Elbert Guillory of Opelousas says the bill threatens the 'legitimate, less bloody sport of 'chicken boxing', a suggestion that baffled Senate judiciary committee members and New Orleans Senator J.P. Morrell, who proposed the bill.

The bill would tighten the state's cockfighting ban, bringing it up to date with state laws that prohibit dog fighting, by broadening the definition of 'chicken' in the current law to include roosters, game fowl and other birds. 

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Senator Guilleroy is claiming that the sport of 'chicken boxing' (pictured) is far less bloody and more of a legitimate sport

The only difference in cockfighting and 'chicken boxing' seems to be what is affixed to the chicken's feet - in the former it is knives or spurs, in the latter it is rubber coating

The new bill would criminalize the possession, manufacturing, buying and selling of spurs, gaffs and knives if there is evidence the paraphernalia is being used to fight chickens, and would toughen the penalties for anyone convicted of cockfighting.

Senator Guillory claims chicken boxing is a legal sport - which uses some of the equipment used in cockfighting - but differs because matches are not fought to the death.

Senator Guillory described chicken boxing as similar to human kickboxing, with chickens wearing little rubber 'gloves', instead of sharp spurs, on their legs.

According to his description, the chickens face off in rounds of ten minutes each, and there is little chance of serious injury to the animals as veterinarians monitor each fight. 

Senator Guillory said: 'Instead of a blade or exposed spur, they hit each other with these boxing gloves on, which is quite safe.

'There's no blood.' 

Republican Senator Elbert Guillory (left) of Opelousas says that the bill threatens the 'legitimate, less bloody sport of 'chicken boxing', while his opponent, Democrat Senator J.P. Morrell (right), said he has never heard of the 'sport'

Senator Morrell said he was unable to comment because he had never heard of the sport.

He said: 'I have no knowledge whatsoever of chicken boxing so I cannot speak to that, I have never heard of that.

'It sounds like something to circumvent cockfighting.'

Senator Guillory responded by saying: 'There is a legitimate sport known as chicken boxing.

'It has nothing to do with cockfighting, and it is clear that this bill would interfere, and would criminalize that legal enterprise.'

However, according to Senator Morrell, two chickens fighting each other in an arena is already banned under a 2008 Louisiana law that criminalized cockfighting.

Cockfighting involves the pitting of two roosters or other game fowl against each other in a ring, with spurs or sharp knives attached to their feet. New Louisiana legislation would tighten up restrictions on the blood sport

Senator Elbert Guillory of Opelousas believes that stricter rules on cockfighting would make the 'legitimate sport of chicken boxing' illegal

The 'sport' of cockfighting is largely known as a very brutal activity that serves as a way to facilitate gambling

Director of animal cruelty policy for the Humane Society of the United States, John Goodwin, said there was no such sport as chicken boxing.

He said: 'Chicken boxing is just a creative excuse the cockfighters have come up with to mask their real agenda, which is to maintain the weakest penalties for cockfighting possible.'

Cockfighting is a rural tradition in which specially bred roosters, often outfitted with spurs, gaffs or knives, fight to the death while spectators place bets on the outcome of the match.

For years, lawmakers resisted animal rights activists' efforts to outlaw it, but eventually gave up in 2007, and the ban took effect a year later making Louisiana the last state to make the rooster fights illegal.

Senator Guillory said: 'My concern is about the breadth of this bill.

'It covers all chickens. I represent a rural area where people raise a lot of chickens, including chickens that are 15th- and 20th-generation fighting birds that are exported legally and legitimately to other nations.'

Morrell said it was illegal to raise chickens for fighting.

'These are not fighting chickens,' Guillory replied.

Senator Guillory intends to carry the fight into the full senate, as the judiciary committee voted 4-2 to advance Senator Morrell's proposal.