COCKFIGHTING OPPONENTS WILL SEEK VOTERS' DECISION

Opponents of cockfighting are tired of years of fruitless efforts in the General Assembly to pass a ban on this ancient practice. These opponents are determined to take their effort to ban cockfighting to the people in the form of an initiative petition. Secretary of State Bekki Cook has now approved the form of the petition, the first step in the formal initiative process. Now, petition backers will begin securing the 68,201 signatures they will need from six of the state's nine congressional districts to qualify their measure for next year's November ballot.

If successful, the initiative would make animal fighting a class D felony, punishable by up to five years in prison. And it would be a class A misdemeanor to attend an animal fight. The proposal specifically exempts such activities as rodeos, using animals for hunting or stock herding and regular poultry operations.

Missouri long had a ban on cockfighting on the statute books, but as a result of a legal challenge, in 1985 the Supreme Court struck the law down as unconstitutionally vague. (No fewer than 45 states have legal bans against cockfighting.) Nearly every year since, opponents of cockfighting have tried to pass a bill banning the practice. Each year they have fallen short, even failing to gain a floor vote on their proposal. The floor vote hasn't occurred because somewhere between two and six senators have demonstrated their willingness to shut down business as they talk the measure to death, engaging in a filibuster, to prevent the vote.

Cockfighting opponents say the practice is barbaric, inhumane and utterly indefensible. In colorful language, defenders cite its ancient roots in the old country. They cite the fact that roosters fight naturally from instinct. They also point to the long lives of fighting roosters as opposed to the 42-day life of a broiler, confined to a small space, who is destined for the dinner table.

Opponents, and even some supporters, are confident that if petition organizers can secure the necessary signatures, the measure will pass at the polls. If so, the petition process will once again have proven itself a worthy and effective safety valve in our representative democracy.