Kinder, Gentler Cockfighting?

I'm not a fan of boxing - I could never understand the desire to watch two people beat the shit out of each other. But I have an even harder time fathoming why people would want to watch two animals tear each other apart. In Oklahoma, a state legislator is seeking to legalize cockfighting in the state, provided they make use of certain "safety" equipment:

To try to revive it, he has proposed that roosters wear little boxing gloves attached to their spurs, as well as lightweight, chicken-sized vests configured with electronic sensors to record hits and help keep score.

"It's like the fencing that you see on the Olympics, you know, where they have little balls on the ends of the swords and the fencers wear vests," said Shurden. "That's the same application that would be applied to the roosters."

All I can say is that if the Oklahoma legislature has time to worry about tiny chicken boxing gloves, the state must be is damn fine shape.