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
Animal Fighting is the Pits
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
Animal welfare leaders argue that the government of Guam should not act as a “pass-through enterprise” or a “go-between” for cockfighters breaking the law WASHINGTON, D.C. — Shipping records obtained from the territorial Department of Agriculture revealed that there were 137 individuals who imported nearly 9,000 fighting birds onto Guam over the last three years. It is … Read more
Questions released on survey that reveals that 61 percent of Guamanians back the federal ban on cockfighting WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, the Animal Wellness Foundation and Animal Wellness Action released more detailed information about the comprehensive, statistically valid survey of Guam residents about animal cruelty and cockfighting, with the survey revealing deep and broad support for … Read more