WAR ON THE COCK-FIGHTERS

Evening Post, Volume CXXVI, Issue 26, 30 July 1938, Page 27

WAR ON THE COCK-FIGHTERS

Headers may have read with surprise of a Bill introduced into ihe House of Commons to dea ; l with the eradication' of , cock-fighting, which, surprisingly enough, has been revived in England, says a correspondent of the "Adelaide Chronicle."

The biggest drive ever known against cock-fighting mains in Britain will start in Parliament in the near future. Amazing facts aboiit secret meetings, involving bets of hundreds of pounds a time, will be given. But the odds are ten to one against new legislation being effective. Investigations made by a reporter In London, the Midlands, the north, and mid-Wales in the pfltet few months proved that so much money is behind the "sport" that it will be almost impossible to wipe it out. Our Dumb Friends' League, armed with a secret dossier of undeniable evidence, is backing a Bill prohibiting the combs of game cocks' to be "dubbed" that is, cut off so that they will not hinder fighting. '

Today there are thousands of game cocks in; England withdubbed combs; they are in poultry yards to be seen by all. Nearly always they are fighting cocks, but thQ owners cannot be touched by law.. But cock-fighting

promoters—they include some of the biggest names in the racing world, theatrical circles, banking, and the Church —are laughing up their sleeves already. . •

One •clergyman who is one of the world's greatest exponents, showed a reporter his pens, the birds with their dubbed combs, even the metal spurs he fits to them to make the battle more bloody.

"The police know of these fights," he explained, "but they never see one! I am a breeder of game cocks for show. It is my hobby." :

Cleverly-worded circulars have recently been sent by registered post to club members for meetings in Leicestershire and Worcestershire —the two biggest strongholds of the "sport"— Herefordshire, Essex, and Durham.

Fighting cocks are changing hands with "transfer fees" from £10 to £25. One Welsh cock was valued at £50 because it was a certainty in the betting world! An even more vile "sport" is gaining popularity in the mining villages of Durham. Weekly wages from the pits are being speculated on dog-and-rat fights. Among the "higher classes" there are similar fights, but it ss more a la mode to substitute a fox Sor a rat.