Game fowl breeding; creating the Commercial Game Fowl Breeders Act; requiring license for breeding of game fowl. Effective date.
SB 922 would create the Commercial Game Fowl Breeders Act and establish a new licensing and regulatory framework for people who breed or deal in game fowl for sale or exchange in Oklahoma. The bill defines “commercial game fowl breeder,” “game fowl,” “facility,” and related terms, and places administration and enforcement with the State Board of Agriculture and the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food, and Forestry. It requires a license for each facility, authorizes inspections before licensure and at least annually thereafter, and allows the Department to contract with veterinarians or other qualified persons to perform inspections. The bill also requires breeders to display licenses, include license numbers in advertisements and contracts, notify the Department of ownership or management changes, and keep detailed health and breeding records for each bird.
The measure also creates enforcement tools and penalties. The Board could deny, suspend, or revoke licenses for specified conduct, including animal cruelty convictions, repeated violations, certain felony convictions, or prior USDA animal-welfare licensing problems. Violations could trigger administrative penalties, misdemeanor charges, fines, injunctions, seizure and impoundment of birds in dangerous situations, and court-ordered access to facilities and records. The bill further creates a Commercial Game Fowl Breeders Assistance Revolving Fund to help pay veterinary, feed, and shelter costs when birds are removed from a breeder or facility, and it amends Oklahoma’s cockfighting exemption statute to expressly allow commercial breeding of game fowl under the new act.
If enacted, SB 922 would add a new chapter to Title 4 of the Oklahoma Statutes governing commercial game fowl breeding and would amend Title 21’s cockfighting-related exemption language to recognize commercial breeding conducted under the new licensing system. It would expand state regulatory authority over breeders, impose inspection and recordkeeping duties, create new licensing and renewal requirements, and establish civil, administrative, and criminal enforcement mechanisms. The bill would also create a dedicated revolving fund for costs associated with seized or removed game fowl, shifting some animal-care expenses to the regulated industry and the Department.
The bill appears to have faced significant opposition in committee. It failed in the Senate Agriculture and Wildlife Committee on a 3-9 vote, indicating that most committee members were not supportive of advancing the measure. No committee transcript was provided, so the available record shows the outcome more clearly than the underlying debate, but the vote suggests the proposal was controversial and did not command broad support at the committee level.
The main point of contention is the bill’s treatment of game fowl breeding in relation to cockfighting. Supporters of the bill appear to have sought a regulated, licensed commercial breeding framework, while opponents likely viewed the measure as too closely tied to cockfighting or as an inappropriate exemption from existing prohibitions. The bill’s explicit ban on using humane society personnel for inspections, its broad inspection and seizure powers, and its detailed recordkeeping and enforcement provisions also suggest likely concerns about animal welfare, enforcement fairness, and the scope of state oversight. The failed committee vote indicates those concerns outweighed support for the regulatory approach.