The proposal to ban cockfighting in
Senate Bill 10, sponsored by Sen. Mary Jane Garcia, D-Doña Ana, will be voted on today or Wednesday by members of the House Judiciary Committee, who were present at Saturday’s hearing. The bill will likely be approved there, and will then head to the House floor for a vote.
The committee’s vote was to send the bill on without a recommendation. Rep. Don Tripp, R-Socorro, cast the dissenting vote.
Cockfighting supporters made emotional pleas to lawmakers at the hearing, and one man had to be removed by police. According to the Associated Press, those who oppose the bill made the claim once again that cockfighting is part of Hispanic heritage.
Garcia rejected that.
“I know about being Hispanic in a rural community,” the news service quoted her as saying. “Cockfighting has never been part of my culture and my community.”
The cockfighting ban passed the Senate earlier this month on a vote of 31-11.