SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY, Calif- The deadly game of cockfighting in San Luis Obispo County is all too common says the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff's Office. Now, a new state law aims to combat the problem.
The new law will increase fines for illegal acts pertaining to animals such as dogs and cockfighting. "It's an industry that is shrouded in secrecy; it moves from location to location, they are very careful never to do it in the same spot twice," said Commander Aaron Nix with the SLO Sheriff's Office.
The Sheriff's Office said these suspects are hard to catch but even if there was a bust, the punishment didn't prevent someone from doing it again. For holding a cockfight the penalty was only a misdemeanor, imprisonment for up to a year, and or a fine of up to 5-thousand. That fine can now go up to 10-thousand.
Before this law, if you were there just to watch the fight, you could have gone to jail for up to 6-months and received up to 1-thousand dollars in fines. Now a spectator can be fined up to 5-thousand. "Doubling the fine to where there is actually some real meat to the amount of money they might be held liable for, that may deter them from going, just from a financial standpoint," said Commander Nix.
The law also raises the fine for selling or buying items that are an indicator of cockfighting as well as training an animal for fighting from 5-thousand to 10-thousand. The Sheriffs Office said if these higher fines deter even a small portion of people from going to these events the law is a success, but it could be stronger.
"We would like to see more teeth put into it, we would like to see earlier felony exposure, we would like to see more time imposed during sentencing, that's going to make this a lot more affective law for us."
The Sheriff's Office says that as the public becomes more aware of this crime, we will probably see the punishment go up.
