Louisiana ? The only state where breeders can still legally pit fighting roosters against each other in bloody battles to the death has officially banned cockfighting starting next summer.

Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco signed the ban Thursday, ending years of dispute among legislators, the cockfighting industry and the animal rights groups that consider the fights barbaric.

The new law, effective in August 2008, makes it a crime to organize or enter birds in a cockfight. It also closes a loophole in Louisiana’s animal cruelty laws.

Gambling on the fights was banned in the state this summer.