Rich Tradition of Cockfighting Set to Die Friday in La.

"Rich Tradition"???

Gory and bucolic all at once, cockfights have drawn crowds to small-time pits and full-blown arenas in towns around Louisiana for generations. By next week, they'll be against the law. Everywhere.

On Friday, Louisiana will become the last state to outlaw the rooster fights, a move enthusiasts say marks the end of a rich rural tradition.

"The culture, the custom of the Cajun people, it's gone," said Chris Daughdrill, who breeds fighting roosters in Loranger, a community about 50 miles north of New Orleans. "It's another one of the rights that big government has taken away from the people."

Maybe so, but supporters and opponents agree the blood sport won't be wiped out entirely. Like bootlegging, cockfights will continue on the sly.

In banning the fights, Louisiana relented after years of pressure from the Humane Society of the United States and other animal-rights groups. For those willing to travel, cockfighting remains legal on American soil in Puerto Rico, American Samoa and Guam and is popular in Mexico, the Philippines and other foreign countries.

High-profile defenders of cockfighting in Louisiana began softening their stance of the fights after Hurricane Katrina in 2005, seeking to improve the state's backward reputation.

Then-Gov. Kathleen Blanco — a native of Cajun country, where the fights have deep roots — signed the ban last year, closing a loophole in state law that excluded chickens from animal cruelty laws.

It has been illegal since last year to gamble on cockfights — a separate law passed last year as a precursor. Daughdrill said the number of large, active cockfighting pits has dropped from 20 last year to about six now.

"I think it's a loss for us," said Billy Duplechein, 38, of St. Martinville, who raised fighting roosters as a boy. "We're losing out on an opportunity to keep our heritage and our culture."

There's reason for him to take heart, however: Daughdrill said he's attended many illegal cockfights in Alabama, Georgia and Mississippi and expects they'll be held in Louisiana, too.