Cockfighting a hot election topic

Animal rights activists took aim Wednesday at two state questions on the ballot in November. <br><br>One state question asks for a ban on rooster fighting, the other wants to make it tougher for future

Wednesday, October 23rd 2002, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

Animal rights activists took aim Wednesday at two state questions on the ballot in November.

One state question asks for a ban on rooster fighting, the other wants to make it tougher for future bans on other animal sports. News on Six anchor Scott Thompson there is a hot debate going on among Oklahoma voters, which they will have to settle on November 5th.

Animal rights activists spoke out Wednesday against television ads opposing a ban on cockfighting. It's the latest round in the war of the words between the two sides. Animal rights activists are pushing state question 687 that would ban cockfighting in Oklahoma. They say having roosters fight to the death is "cruel" and "barbaric."

Fans of animal sports have fought back with another initiative. State Question 698 would raise the number of votes needed to change laws dealing with animal sports like hunting, fishing and rodeos. They're concerned initiatives like the cockfighting ban will spread to other animal related sports.

Supporters of the cockfighting ban, like Janet Halliburton, say hunting and fishing continue in the 47 other states that don't allow cockfighting. â€œThese people are not farmers they try to masquerade as some type of rural folk who are just raising chickens but that's not the case."

The News on Six has an example of the ballot complete with the wording of those state questions, and all others on this web site. Just go to the home page and click on the Election 2002 icon.