YouTube removed a video on Monday of Gov. Kevin Stitt (R-OK) expressing support for a game fowl organization that backs legislation to lessen criminal penalties related to cockfighting.
Stitt made a video message supporting the annual meeting for the Oklahoma Gamefowl Commission, a group that previously backed a bill that drops charges for cockfighting from a felony to a misdemeanor.
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Animal Wellness Action condemned Stitt’s comments and reposted the video on its YouTube channel. YouTube removed the message from Stitt over violations of its community guidelines by promoting animal abuse, according to the animal rights advocacy group.
“While we don’t support the takedown of Gov. Stitt’s video valentine to cockfighters, the YouTube action is yet one more indicator that his statement promotes the criminal enterprise of cockfighting and the bloodletting that results from staged animal combat,” Wayne Pacelle, president of Animal Wellness Action and the Center for a Humane Economy, said in a press release. “Gov. Stitt can get himself on the right side of this issue by saying he opposes cockfighting and any bill to weaken the state’s voter-approved law.”
The group posted the full removal message from YouTube: "Content showing the malicious infliction of physical or psychological harm to animals isn’t allowed on YouTube. We review educational, documentary, artistic, and scientific content on a case-by-case basis. Limited exceptions are made when sufficient context is included.”
Animal Wellness Action linked a full transcript of Stitt’s message to the Oklahoma Gamefowl Commission. Stitt told the group he wished he could attend its annual legislative meeting on Nov. 12 in McAlester, Oklahoma, adding, “I wanted to take a moment to cheer you on from the sidelines. You all know Oklahoma's long and storied history with gamefowl, from statehood to today. Oklahomans like yourselves remain dedicated to the spirit of competition and comradery that runs deep in our communities.”
After Animal Wellness Action brought the video to light last week, Stitt received pushback for his remarks, including from former Oklahoma Gov. Frank Anthony Keating, a Republican, who called Stitt’s comments an embarrassment.
“Recent polling shows that Oklahomans are nearly unanimous in their opposition to this form of intentional cruelty to animals,” Keating told Oklahoma City-based KFOR last week. “It is an embarrassment to me that any elected official seeks to turn back the clock on this morally settled issue.”
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Oklahoma voters moved to ban the practice of cockfighting under Keating's administration in the early 2000s, and after two years of legal battles, the ballot measure went into effect in 2004.
The governor's office told the Washington Examiner on Tuesday that Stitt “does not support animal cruelty” and often makes videos to support state agriculture groups. Stitt’s office did not have a comment regarding the YouTube video being removed because it was posted by Animal Wellness Action and did not affect the governor’s channel.