Animal Welfare Groups Applaud Cockfighting Bust in Casey County, Nabbing Dozens

Louisville, KY — Leaders of Showing Animals Respect and Kindness (SHARK), Animal Wellness Action, and the Center for a Humane Economy applauded Kentucky State Police for a weekend bust of a cockfight that resulted in the arrests of 54 people in Casey County.

Acting on an animal cruelty complaint, troopers visited the location on Riffe Creek Road and found an active fighting event. The arrested individuals were charged with second-degree animal cruelty.

The bust follows the recent federal sentencing of people involved in a cockfighting operation in Whitesburg. The owner, Robert Dwayne Baker, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit animal fighting, a federal felony. As part of the plea agreement, Baker dismantled the venue and forfeited $85,395.

Court records identified Baker’s facility in Isom, Letcher County, as the Whitesburg Chicken Pit or American Testing Facility. The venue featured seating for approximately 500 people, a concession stand, a main fighting pit, a rooster-weighing station, and an area for sharpening metal gaffs. These gaffs were attached to the roosters’ legs during fights to inflict cuts on opponents.

It appears that the operation in Casey County operated on a similar scale, with a cockfighting arena with seating for 500.

“The Kentucky State Police did their job this weekend, and they did it well,” said Steve Hindi, president of Showing Animals Respect and Kindness (SHARK). “Cockfighting is a cluster crime, with animal cruelty, illegal gambling, the attendance of minors, and often narcotics bundled together.” Hindi and his team have documented illegal fights across eastern Kentucky and mapped out the locations of more than 15 operating fighting pits. That work has led to a number of interdictions, mainly by federal authorities.

“Staged animal fights are barbaric, and law enforcement should exhibit no tolerance for them,” addedWayne Pacelle, president of Animal Wellness Action. “We hope to see an increasing partnership between the Kentucky State Police and federal law enforcement to wipe out illegal cockfighting in Kentucky. These operators feel they are beyond the reach of the law, and they are now getting a rude awakening.” Pacelle, Animal Wellness Action, and the Center for a Humane Economy have compiled a list of major cockfighting traffickers throughout Kentucky.

Given widespread illegal trafficking of fighting birds, including interstate transport and national import and export of them, Congress is considering an upgrade of the national animal fighting law. The bill is the Fighting Inhumane Gambling and High-risk Trafficking Act, or the FIGHT Act.

The FIGHT Act would enhance enforcement of these laws by banning online gambling on animal fights; halting the shipment of mature roosters (chickens only) through the U.S. Postal Service (it is already illegal to ship dogs through the mail); allowing a civil right of action for private citizens against animal fighters after proper notice to federal authorities; and enhancing criminal forfeiture penalties to include real property for those convicted of animal fighting crimes.

It has more than 760 endorsing organizations, including the Breathitt County Sheriff’s Office, McCracken County Attorney’s Office, Morgan County Animal Control, and Ohio County Sheriff’s Office in Kentucky, as well as many other organizations outside of government.

“Cockfighting is a crime of violence, and it is bound up with other crimes, including border crimes like illegal trafficking of animals and narcotics,” said Pacelle. “We have a long way to go before these crime networks are dismantled, and the FIGHT Act provides the tools to do exactly that.”