§102.23. Cockfighting

A. It shall be unlawful for any person to:

(1) Organize or conduct any commercial or private cockfight wherein there is a display of combat or fighting among one or more domestic or feral chickens and in which it is intended or reasonably foreseeable that the chickens would be injured, maimed, mutilated, or killed; or

(2) Possess, train, purchase, or sell any chicken with the intent that the chicken shall be engaged in an unlawful commercial or private cockfight as prohibited in Paragraph (1) of this Subsection.

B. As used in this Section, the following words and phrases have the following meanings ascribed to them:

(1) "Chicken" means any game fowl or rooster whether domestic or feral normally used in a cockfight.

(2) "Cockfight" means a contest wherein chickens are set against one another with the intention that they engage in combat.

C. Possessing, manufacturing, buying, selling, or trading of paraphernalia such as spurs, gaffs, knives, leather training spur covers, and other items or substances normally used in cockfighting with the intent that they shall be used in a cockfight together with evidence that the paraphernalia is being used or intended for use in the unlawful training of a chicken to fight with another chicken, shall be admissible as evidence of a violation of this Section. Whoever violates the provisions of this Subsection, upon conviction shall be fined not more than five hundred dollars, or imprisoned for not more than six months, or both. However, the provisions of this Section shall not be construed to prohibit the possessing, buying, selling, or trading of any spurs, gaffs, knives, leather training spur covers, or any other items normally used in cockfighting which are at least five years old and have historical value.

D.(1) Whoever violates the provisions of this Section, on conviction of a first offense, shall be fined not less than seven hundred fifty dollars, nor more than two thousand dollars, or imprisoned, with or without hard labor, for not less than six months nor more than one year, or both. In addition to any other penalty imposed, on a conviction of a first offense, the offender shall be ordered to perform fifteen eight-hour days of court-approved community service. The community service requirement shall not be suspended.

(2) On a conviction of a second offense, the offender shall be fined not less than one thousand dollars, nor more than two thousand dollars, and shall be imprisoned, with or without hard labor, for not less than one year nor more than three years. At least six months of the sentence imposed shall be served without benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence.

E. For the purposes of this Section, when more than one chicken is subject to an act that would constitute cockfighting, each chicken involved shall constitute a separate offense.

F. The provisions of this Section shall not be construed to prohibit the raising of any chicken, rooster, or gamefowl for the purposes of personal enjoyment, exhibition, or agricultural pursuits as long as the purpose of such pursuits are legal.

Acts 2007, No. 425, §1, eff. Aug. 15, 2008; Acts 2014, No. 395, §1.