Louisiana now last state with legal cockfighting

The Louisiana legislature convenes for its regular session in three weeks, and some lawmakers there are considering following the 2007 New Mexico legislature to put an end to legal cockfighting in that state. Here's an article from yesterday's USA Today on the subject.

Until the Louisiana Supreme Court stepped in in January, 2006 and allowed local officials to enforce a Caddo Parish ordinance against the practice, the Ark-La-Tex Game Club operated on Hwy. 71 just a few hundred yards from the Arkansas border. The Louisiana statute against animal cruelty exempts "fowl" and states as follows:

D. For purposes of this Section, fowl shall not be defined as animals. Only the following birds shall be identified as animals for purposes of this Section:
(1) Order Psittaciformes-parrots, parakeets, lovebirds, macaws, cockatiels or cockatoos.
(2) Order Passeriformes-canaries, starlings, sparrows, flycatches, mynah or myna.
(3) Order Anseriformes-Anatidae--swans, geese, and all forms of ducks.
(4) Order Struthioniformes--ratites-ostriches, emus, rheas, cassowaries, and kiwis.
(5) Genus-Pavo--peacocks and peahens.