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From the January 31, 2007 Albuquerque Tribune:
Taking a stand against cockfighting
Senate Majority Whip Mary Jane Garcia is no longer timid to fight for what she believes in.
SANTA FE — Some Senate colleagues laughed.
Others made sexually charged jokes.
And Sen. Mary Jane Garcia was so embarrassed, she sat down amid the cackling.
That was 18 years ago, when Garcia, a Dona Ana Democrat, introduced a ban on cockfighting for the first time.
She recalls that she was too timid to stand up for her bill in 1989. But times - and Mary Jane Garcia - have changed.
Four-and-a-half terms removed from her days as a freshman legislator, Garcia now is the Senate majority whip - the chamber's third most powerful post. Almost as important, she has become the face, and perhaps the muscle, behind anti-animal-cruelty measures in the Legislature.
She is determined to prevail this year in the annual effort to ban cockfighting. And with the help of at least one powerful friend, she might well succeed.
"To me, it's a gruesome, bloody sport that breeds violence," she said of her longstanding efforts against the sport. "It just makes my stomach turn."
Calm may soon be approaching, however. Gov. Bill Richardson recently announced he'll support the ban, after being undecided throughout his first term.
"I almost fainted, I was so elated" by the news, she said.
Garcia isn't the first to carry the ban, but she's probably been the most persistent. Former Rep. Max Coll said he started carrying the issue as far back as 1981.
Taking on the bill means taking on hundreds of phone calls and managing hearings that can not only fill a chamber but have people spilling out into hallways for hour upon hour of emotionally charged testimony.
Although Richardson's support clearly carries weight in the Democrat-controlled Legislature, it's not over yet: The measure still must clear the Senate Conservation Committee, a panel that in the past has rejected the idea.
Supporters of the sport say it's a New Mexico tradition, rooted in community and culture. Opponents call it backward and cruel, and not even a sport but a form of illegal gambling.
Every time the subject arises, emotions explode.
"It's been here way before New Mexico became a state. There's no reason to outlaw it except for the animal rights people," said Ronnie Barron, president of the New Mexico Game Breeders Association.
"Why do you want to make people into criminals who aren't?"
Sen. Phil Griego, the newly appointed chairman of the Senate Conservation Committee, where Garcia's bill goes first, said he's not a spokesman for the cockfighters and has never been to a fight. But he says the issue is about rural sovereignty, a vital point to many in small towns and villages across New Mexico.
"I want to make sure the rights of rural community and rural traditions are not stepped on by the Legislature," said Griego, a Democrat from San Jos‚.
"When you start banning things across the state, you take away local control."
Cockfighting is banned in 13 of the state's 33 counties and 29 cities. New Mexico and Louisiana are the only two states where cockfighting is still allowed.
Griego said he hopes to get Garcia's bill - and a similar bill another ban proposal by Albuquerque Sen. Steve Komadina - heard on Thursday.
There is talk already of pulling the bill out of committee, a procedural maneuver sometimes used to skip over what's likely to be an unfavorable committee hearing and bring the measure to debate on the full floor.
Richardson has said he'll sign a ban as part of a 10-point animal welfare legislative package.
If signed, it would be up to law enforcement to make sure the law is followed, said Department of Public Safety spokesman Peter Olson.
"We know from past experience that there is illegal gambling related to cockfighting, but we haven't targeted cockfighting busts recently," he said. "But state law enforcement does investigate illegal gambling."
While the cockfighting ban garners more attention than other animal issues, there are several related measures this session.
"There's new awareness that really reflects New Mexicans' humane values," said Heather Greenhood, legislative director for the Animal Protection Voters, a group working several animal welfare measures this session.
Still, some old traditions die hard. Greenwood and Garcia say they understand they may face scorn from cockfighting supporters and lawmakers who oppose the ban.
But Garcia doesn't mind.
"They better not make jokes this time," she said, "because I will fight back."
© 2006 The Albuquerque Tribune
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