LOGANSPORT -- A new law making it illegal to gamble at cockfights in Louisiana -- foreshadowing an outright ban on cockfighting that takes effect next year -- is of particular importance in DeSoto Parish.

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Even before the law was passed, one of two cockfighting pits was raided earlier this year and the owners were charged with illegal gambling.

DeSoto sheriff's deputies will visit Sunrise Game Club, south of Logansport, this weekend to remind the owner and operators of the new law, which took effect Wednesday, Sheriff Rodney Arbuckle said.

"We want to make sure they are complying. We want to be proactive and go ahead and notify them that we'll be watching and we will cite them if we find them in violation," the sheriff said. "It's something we are going to have to monitor until the whole thing becomes illegal next year."

Banning cockfighting was a much-debated issue before the Louisiana Legislature this year. Several bills targeted the blood sport in an attempt to remove Louisiana's distinction of being the only remaining state to allow rooster fights.

Legislators stopped just short of outlawing cockfights this year, opting instead to give pit owners until Aug. 15, 2008, to divest themselves of their roosters and operations. However, lawmakers proceeded with the anti-gambling law that many say will hasten the end of most, if not all, of the operations.

A new federal law making it a felony to move animals in interstate or foreign commerce took effect in May.

(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)