Organization Encourages Cooperation with Federal Law Enforcement, While Also Noting New Legislation to Crack Down on Animal Fighting to be Introduced in Congress Today Washington, D.C. — Today, Animal Wellness Action offered plaudits to the Marlboro County Sheriff’s Office for investigating illegal cockfighting ventures and making arrests in a case within its jurisdiction. Given the complexities in the … Read more
Animal Fighting is the Pits
AWA had issued multiple warning about Hawaii being a massive cockfighting hub and one of the top hotspots anywhere in the nation for this crime Washington, D.C. – Animal Wellness Action reacted to the mass shooting at the close of a cockfighting event in Oahu, noting that “it has forecast this very sort of mass shooting … Read more
Washington, D.C. — Today, Animal Wellness Action reacted with shock and alarm to an administrative commission determination that Guam Department of Agriculture law enforcement officer Ken San Nicolas would be fully reinstated in his position and given backpay even though acknowledging and conceding that he participated in illegal cockfighting. Staging an animal fight is a federal felony, with … Read more
Press Release Second of two bills bill to decriminalize cockfighting dies today in state legislature, dramatically reducing the threat of any weakening of the state’s voter-approved law Oklahoma City – The effort to unwind the state law making cockfighting a felony met with a final defeat today, with the Senate choosing not even to give … Read more
A Q&A with Jewel Johnson of Rooster Sanctuary at Danzig’s Roost Cockfighting is cruelty in its purest form. Cockfighters strap knives or gaffs (curved, razor-sharp picks) to birds’ legs, place them in a pit, and goad them to fight to the death. They do it for the thrill of the bloodletting and for illegal gambling. … Read more
Press Release Animal Wellness Action and SHARK provide detailed evidence of ongoing gamecock operations built for raising and selling fighting animals in violation of Oklahoma and United States law Oklahoma City — Animal Wellness Action and SHARK have released a report on the leaders of the so-called Oklahoma Gamefowl Commission (OGC) detailing their unmistakable involvement in … Read more
Cockfighting deadens the human attributes of empathy and decency. It is criminally infectious, with cruelty then blending with gambling, money laundering, corruption of public officials, and other illicit behaviors. This kind of moral rot masquerading as sport deserves no refuge in any state, territory, county, or even neighborhood. Yet despite a strong federal law criminalizing … Read more
Press Release Groups note there have been more political donations from cockfighters in 2022 than the total number of cockfighting busts in 20 years Oklahoma City — From 2004 to 2022, there were only 29 law enforcement actions resulting in the arrest of individuals involved in cockfighting, an average of 1.75 busts a year for 75 … Read more
Groups call on Sheriff to shut them down and arrest organizers, attendees Washington, D.C. — Animal Wellness Acting and Showing Animals Respect and Kindness (SHARK) – two national animal protection organizations with campaigns against cockfighting – urged Lee County Sheriff to shut down three cockfighting pits that SHARK has investigated within the last month and found … Read more
SHARK Releases Video Revealing Operators of Major Cockfighting Complex in Coal County Illegally Shipping Fighting Birds Through U.S. Post Office in Coalgate Oklahoma City — Calling Oklahoma “the cockfighting capital of the United States,” Animal Wellness Action and the Center for a Humane Economy released reports today detailing 1) rampant cockfighting (report available to journalists upon … Read more