SENATE MEMORIAL 10

47th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - second session, 2006

INTRODUCED BY

John T. L. Grubesic

A MEMORIAL

ADOPTING COCKFIGHTING AS THE STATE DISGRACE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO.

     WHEREAS, cockfighting involves intentionally pitting two roosters against each other in a fight that ends only when one of the birds is so injured that the bird can no longer fight or until one of the birds is killed; and

     WHEREAS, fighting roosters are armed with steel knives or ice pick-like gaffs; and

     WHEREAS, New Mexico is one of only two states that allow legal cockfighting; and

     WHEREAS, cockfighting is banned in thirteen New Mexico counties and twenty-nine municipalities; and

     WHEREAS, public opinion polling shows that as many as eighty-one percent of New Mexico voters support a statewide ban on cockfighting; and

     WHEREAS, dogfighting and intentional cruelty to animals are felonies in New Mexico; and

     WHEREAS, cockfighting encourages and breeds other activities that are illegal and classified as crimes in New Mexico, such as illegal gambling and violations of the Liquor Control Act; and

     WHEREAS, federal law seeks to eliminate all animal fighting through a prohibition on the interstate movement of fighting animals; and

     WHEREAS, cockfighting is a threat to public health and agriculture as it has been implicated in the transmission of diseases such as exotic Newcastle disease, which decimated commercial poultry flocks in several states in 2002 and 2003, and avian influenza, which is on the verge of causing a deadly pandemic; and

     WHEREAS, New Mexico's economy is dependent upon tourism, which relies upon the positive image the state portrays beyond its borders; and

     WHEREAS, the New Mexico legislature has failed to enact a statewide ban on cockfighting;

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that cockfighting be adopted as the official disgrace of New Mexico; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be transmitted to the office of the governor; the tourism department; the New Mexico department of agriculture; the department of health; the department of public safety; and the of cultural affairs department.

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