Puerto Rico, Guam political leaders abetting illegal cockfighting A key portion of the Animal Welfare Act (Act) has weathered multiple legal challenges from cockfighters and dogfighters who argued that the federal government lacks the authority to restrict animal fighting. Each of the five amendments to Section 26 of the Act (relating to “animal fighting ventures”) … Read more
Animal Fighting is the Pits
Washington, D.C. – The U.S. Supreme Court should deny a writ of certiorari, filed on June 11th, from a coalition of illegal cockfighting enthusiasts in Puerto Rico and allow a series of unanimous federal court rulings to stand that declare that no part of the United States should be a refuge for staged animal fights. … Read more
Spectators stir, unroll wads of cash, and finish up their side bets as a pulley lowers two roosters in a partitioned plastic cage from the ceiling and into a center pit. That pit is encircled by dozens of men standing 10 rows deep, behind a two-foot-high wall. It’s a steeply sloped arena, so that all … Read more
Court Ruling Recognizes Animal Wellness Action and Invokes Language and Facts from our Pleadings in the Case It’s just about the end of the line for America’s cockfighting industry in the states and territories. Yesterday, a three-judge panel from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit affirmed the constitutionality of the federal law … Read more
Groups allege North Carolina retains an extensive network of illegal cockfighting operations Washington, D.C. — Animal Wellness Action (AWA) and the Animal Wellness Foundation (AWF) today asked North Carolina’s three U.S. Attorneys to launch an investigation into a substantial network of individuals throughout the state who are alleged to be knee-deep in the business of illegal … Read more
Illegal animal fighting receding on Guam but it has not yet been eliminated Washington, D.C. — The illegal movement of fighting animals from U.S. states to Guam has dramatically declined during the last year, according to shipping records from the Guam Department of Agriculture (GDOA) and recently obtained and reviewed by Animal Wellness Action (AWA) … Read more
The question of free expression arises in federal court actions initiated by animal fighting practitioners The First Amendment has been used as a shield by perpetrators of animal cruelty for decades. In recent federal court proceedings, cockfighters claim that staged battles between animals are a protected expression and religious exercise guaranteed by the First Amendment. … Read more
The era of disregarding animal welfare laws cannot end soon enough Reports from China this week are delivering a dose of heartbreak and how-can-it-happen. Dog meat traders are butchering terrified and terrorized dogs at the infamous Yulin festival, selling their parts to buyers in defiance of a new Chinese regulation that reclassified dogs from “livestock” to … Read more
(This is the latest essay in continuing series about animal-use industries that have the potential to spawn a new virus or other pathogen that threaten human and animal health) In what constitutes perhaps the riskiest imaginable practice when it comes to animal-to-human disease transmission, some cockfighters are known to put the head of a rooster … Read more
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Animal Wellness Foundation (AWF) and Animal Wellness Action (AWA) today provided a preview of its 30-second television advertisement to air during Sunday’s Super Bowl on Guam. The ad features two Guamanians of Chamorro descent who describe cockfighting as “about gambling, not about our culture” and ending “the medieval practice of having animals … Read more