INCREASE REPORTED

Otago Daily Times, Issue 27025, 9 March 1949, Page 5

INCREASE REPORTED

COCKFIGHTING IN BRITAIN MEASURE TO MAKE BAN MORE EFFECTIVE NZPA Special Correspondent Rec. 9 p.m. LONDON, Mar. 8. Cockfighting, which is usually considered to be a thing of the past, is reported to be on the increase again in Britain and the House of Commons has approved a measure to tighten up the century-old legal ban on the sport. Sir William Darling, a Scotsman, told the House that cock fighting still flourished in parts of England. He quoted an old tavern ditty which, he said, is still sung:

“To keep game cocks and hunt the fox, To drink the punch and whisky, We fear no locks, we will train the cocks, And care not if it’s risky.”

“The object of this Bill is to make it more risky,” said Sir William. The Bill permits policemen to make arrests if they find roosters which are clipped for cockfighting and prohibits the possession of steel fighting spurs which are attached to the cocks’ legs. The police have complained that they have been unable to combat cockfighting effectively because under the present laws they must actually witness a fight. Superintendent S. Bennett, of the RSPCA headquarters, London, says his association has compiled a black list of people who indulge in cockfighting, which includes the names of some “in very high places.” Mr Bennett stated: “At a cockfight held in France recently British people present signed their names on a menu card. You would be surprised to see who were among them. There were some women accompanying the men. “In England many cock fights are held in the Newmarket district and they are often found where race gangs operate. Others are held in the north, chiefly in Cumberland and Westmorland. The gangs are so wary and their look outs so efficient that few convictions are made. The last in Britain was at Hackthorpe, near Penrith, in 1938, when 17 people were fined.

“ Cockfighting is definitely on the increase again since the lull caused by the war. It is very difficult to catch the people concerned. Our inspectors always work in plain clothes and sometimes adopt disguises. I myself have spent hours on a Yorkshire moor disguised as a fisherman, but did not catch anybody.”