Bipartisan legislation with 25 Republicans and 23 Democrats original cosponsors mirrors Senate bill and garners support from 800+ agencies and organizations, including the National Sheriffs’ Association, United Egg Producers, and American Gaming Association
Washington, D.C. — In a legislative maneuver to crack down on the cruelty and organized crime associated with animal fighting, U.S. Representatives Don Bacon, R-Neb., Andrea Salinas, D-Ore., Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., and Don Davis, D-N.C., introduced H.R. 3946, the Fighting Inhumane Gambling and High-Risk Trafficking (FIGHT) Act, in the U.S. House late this week. The legislation is a companion to S. 1454, led by Sens. John Kennedy, R-La., and Cory Booker, D-N.J., and the measures are backed by more than 800 organizations, including the associations representing all elected sheriffs and district attorneys across the nation.
The House introduction comes just days after Animal Wellness Action, the Center for a Humane Economy, and Showing Animals Respect and Kindness (SHARK) released an investigation revealing the top two officials of the United States Gamefowl Commission were caught on video participating in illegal cockfighting events in McIntosh County, Okla. on May 31st and June 7th. The exposé lays bare a national conspiracy by Anthony Devore and Blake Pearce to violate our nation’s anti-cruelty laws, with the two men at top of a network of thousands of illegal animal fighters knowingly violating state, tribal, and federal laws and funneling money from their illegal cockfighting activities into the political process to influence governors, lawmakers, sheriffs, and other elected officials.
“For bloodlust and illegal gambling, dogfighters and cockfighters place animals in pits and goad them to injure, mutilate, and kill on an extraordinary scale, across the nation and the world,” said Wayne Pacelle, president of Animal Wellness Action and the Center for a Humane Economy. “The FIGHT Act provides new tools for federal, state, and tribal law enforcement agencies to collaborate and to dismantle these criminal enterprises and hold perpetrators accountable.”
In endorsing the FIGHT Act, the National Sheriffs Association notes that “dogfighting and cockfighting have links to crimes against people including, but not limited to, child abuse, murder, assault, theft, intimidation of neighbors and witnesses, and human trafficking,’ and added that “animal fighting investigations have uncovered intricate criminal networks and connections to organized crime, trafficking narcotics, illegal firearms, and attempted bribery of elected officials.” The National District Attorneys Association also endorses FIGHT.
The amendments to the federal anti-animal-fighting law will also help protect public health and slow infections of commercial poultry flocks. Virulent Newcastle disease has entered the United States through the illegal smuggling of infected cockfighting roosters from Mexico at least 10 times, causing more than a billion dollars in losses and depopulation of millions of birds, mainly used in commercial production.
“If cockfighting birds are infected, they have the potential to expand the geography and duration of viral outbreaks throughout the U.S. and the world,” said Dr. Jim Keen, D.V.M., Ph.D., director of veterinary programs for the Center for a Humane Economy and a former 20-year infectious disease specialist with the USDA.” Dr. Keen’s report on cockfighting and avian diseases is here.
The FIGHT Act would also address the growing international broadcasting and wagering on animal fighting, in an era where online gambling has exploded. Online gambling in the Philippines generated more than $13 billion in wagers in 2022.
Animal Wellness Action Investigation Unmasks Conspiracy to Undermine Anti-Fighting Laws
AWA’s undercover investigation captured Devore and Pearce — who have publicly claimed to oppose illegal activity — participating in two large-scale cockfighting derbies just days ago on Cherokee tribal land. The events drew more than 100 participants each. Pearce was seen in the front row wearing an Oklahoma Gamefowl Commission shirt, cheering on bloodied birds, while Devore was caught directly participating in the following week’s event.
“These men have been known to us as traffickers and repeat violators of state and federal law, yet they’ve had the gall to lobby politicians with the goal of dismantling our laws to clear a pathway for their criminal activities,” said Pacelle. “Our investigation puts new light on their long-running charade and reminds lawmakers that combatting animal fighting is an urgent problem because of its scale and its threats to community safety and commercial poultry operations.”
What the FIGHT Act Would Do
The FIGHT Act would amend Section 26 of the Animal Welfare Act to:
- Ban online gambling on animal fights within the U.S., even if the fight is broadcast from abroad.
- Prohibit the shipment of mature roosters through the U.S. mail — the key method used by cockfighters to traffic fighting birds. (This does not affect agricultural shipments of baby chicks.)
- Create a citizen suit provision to empower private citizens to bring actions against known violators.
- Expand asset forfeiture provisions to include real property used to facilitate animal fighting.
Though animal fighting is already illegal in all 50 states and under federal law, enforcement has been lax, episodic, and under-resourced, including on tribal lands where jurisdiction is complex. The FIGHT Act provides critical new tools to address those gaps.
“Dog fighting and cock fighting are simply wrong. Dogs are man’s best friend and poultry farming is a cornerstone of rural economies, sustaining vibrant communities across America,” said Rep. Bacon. “Both dogs and roosters deserve to be protected from the cruelties of blood sport. By passing this bill, Congress is unequivocally stating that it intends to protect animals while defending the morality of our nation’s livestock industry and the loving tender bond between dogs and humans.”
“Across the country, innocent animals are forced into violent and inhumane fights while people watch for entertainment, including cockfighting and dogfighting,”said Rep. Salinas. “That is why I’m partnering with Congressman Bacon to reintroduce the FIGHT Act, which would ensure individuals who engage in illegal animal fight and gaming are held entirely accountable. It’s time to put a full stop to these fights and to save innocent animals from horrific cruelty.”
The full roster of 48 original U.S. House cosponsors is enumerated here.
You can see the video from our investigation here.
For more information, including the full text of the FIGHT Act and other details about staged animal fighting, visit www.endcockfighting.org.