Cockfighters Approach Council
BOBBY ARDOIN
St. Landry Now.com Editor
A group supporting cockfighting has asked the St. Landry Parish Council to help them reestablish what they claim is their right to support an activity which has been banned nationwide since 2019.
Council members listened and discussed the request by James Demourelle during committee meetings last week, but took no action.
Demourelle, backed by a large contingent of cockfighting advocates who attended the meeting, said he wants Council Attorney Garrett Duplechain to help him draft a letter to the State Attorney General’s Office asking for a legal opinion on whether outlawing cockfighting violates individual rights.
Louisiana became the last state to ban cocking following a 2007 decision by state lawmakers.
During his presentation Demourelle maintained that roosters trained for cockfighting should be considered property that can be used according to the will of the owner as long as the use of property does not harm another individual.
Demourelle reminded the Council that St. Landry was once considered a cockfighting epicenter that attracted spectators nationally and internationally who paid to witness and fight their roosters at weekend long bouts.
With that history pertaining to cockfighting, It seems appropriate Demourelle said that the parish should be the location that seeks state level action for his request.
“This (St. Landry) was the birthplace. In Sunset, when there were cockfights, you filled up every hotel room in (Opleousas). People came here from all over the world,” Demourelle said.
Demourelle said he wasn’t necessarily requesting that the Council ask for cockfighting to be legalized.
It’s more important for cockfighters supporters to determine whether their rights are being violated for not approving the activity, Demourelle said.
Eventually however Demourelle said he may ask the Council to issue a license for a cock fighting facility.
Demourelle said that he rented the Yambilee Building in Opelousas recently in order to determine whether that venue is suitable for cockfights.
Council member Timothy LeJeune asked Demourelle to provide an estimate on how much revenue cockfighting could provide for St. Landry.
“I know it was a large industry at one time, costing thousands of dollars per bird. You would maybe make a gumbo or watch them tear each other apart,” said LeJeune.
Demourelle said the cockfighters that he knows don’t particularly care about percentages that could be remitted back to the parish.
“I don’t care how much that might be. We want the right to fight. I don’t know about the money. It’s about our rights,” Demourelle added.
Chairman Jody White told Demourelle it’s probably best if the cockfighting supporters approach the state level before petitioning the parish.
