BATON ROUGE – After decades, if not centuries, of what has become a Cajun tradition, the ban on cockfighting that was passed by the state legislature will go into effect on Friday. The Louisiana ban will officially make the blood sport illegal in all 50 states.

Obviously, not all people are pleased.

“The culture, the custom of the Cajun people is gone,” said Chris Dsughdrill, 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.

Still others feel that it is about time the ban went into effect.

“Legalized cockfighting, while it is a custom down here, has made our state a sort of laughing stock,” said Carolyn Meaux who works at Romero’s Grocery in Duson. “People around the country need to understand that the people of south Louisiana aren’t all like Bobby Boucher.”

In banning the fights, Louisiana finally relented after years of pressure from groups like the Humane Society and PETA.

While the ban may technically go into effect this week, most supporters and opponents agree that the sport will simply go underground. Most expect that cockfighting will continue in remote areas. Those who get caught will face fines and even possible jail time.

“They’re still going to fight, in fact, they will be fighting for years to come,” said Elizabeth Barras, who with her husband Dale ran a cockfighting ring in St. Martin Parish for 14 years. “They still have cockfighting in every state. They just learned to hide it from the law.”