ATLANTA — For the fourth year, a bill to make forcing roosters known as gamecocks to fight in a pit with metal objects attached to their legs, often until a bloody death, came up short in the state Legislature. That means Georgia is the only state in the country without a law making cockfighting illegal.

But it made it further along than in previous sessions, and that’s a small win, according to the bill’s sponsor, Sen. Randy Robertson, R-Cataula. Senate Bill 102 passed the state Senate by a vote of 49-3. The bill also made it out of the House Judiciary committee, but never came up for a vote.

“I appreciate the fact that I’m pushing against the culture,” Robertson told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Monday. “The cockfighting that exists today is not our grandfather’s. It’s taken on a much darker role in our state.”

Cockfighting isn’t new and dates back centuries, though the purpose of current-day cockfighting is for money and entertainment rather than a simple game. The humans forcing the roosters to fight until death can earn as much as $100,000 or more after an event, says Jessica Rock, Georgia’s animal crimes prosecutor.

Those who abuse animals often don’t stop there, Rock said. Crimes against animals are often perpetrated in conjunction with violence toward humans.

“This is a culture that relishes and celebrates violence,” Rock said. “When children are exposed to such violence at an early age, it desensitizes them to violence and lowers their empathy levels.”

Robertson said many “traditionalists” don’t want to end cockfighting, despite the crimes linked to it.

“There’s just so many peripheral crimes that are being committed alongside of this and sadly these traditionalists just aren’t seeing it,” he said.

Because Georgia does not have a specific law against cockfighting, investigators say the Peach State is where those from other states come to participate. When individuals cross state lines with trailers full of roosters for the events, that puts the poultry population at risk of the potential spread of disease, Rock said.

Despite there not being a state law prohibiting cockfighting, it is often investigated throughout Georgia because it is cruel to the animals and involves other crimes.

It’s not just in rural areas of South Georgia, where agriculture and farming are major industries, that cockfighting happens. In March, a man in northwest Georgia was charged with 27 counts of aggravated cruelty to animals and four counts of cruelty to animals after 26 dead roosters were found in his yard, said the Walker County sheriff.

If Georgia had a cockfighting law, it could have been used in this case, says Rock. Suspects in current cases in Georgia can face animal cruelty and possibly federal charges.

It is a federal felony to buy, sell, deliver, possess, train or transport an animal for participation in animal fighting. It also is a federal felony to take a child under the age of 16 to an animal fight.

“We shouldn’t have to make these federal cases,” Rock said in a previous interview with the AJC. “We should be able to prosecute cockfighting cases in the state of Georgia with a law that specifically addresses this brutal and barbaric activity.”

Robertson said he isn’t done with the fight to make cockfighting illegal. He said the proponents of the bill plan to continue the fight during the months leading up to next session, hopefully getting more support.

“We’re all in this fight to try to make Georgia better,” he said.

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