The series of investigations uncover a massive organized criminal network of cockfighting farms, fighting pits, and fighting-animal shipping locations
Odessa, Texas — Animal Wellness Action, the Center for a Humane Economy, and Showing Animals Respect and Kindness (SHARK) today released evidence from an undercover investigation conducted this past weekend that uncovered an extensive cockfighting operation in the Odessa area.
Information was shared earlier today in an online press conference. To receive materials from the event and a link to a recording of it, contact Lindsey von Busch above.
Field investigators documented a sprawling property equipped with a fighting pit, dozens of birds housed in mobile “cockhouses,” and signs of recent fights — including bloodstained surfaces and discarded gaffs — all consistent with an active criminal animal-fighting enterprise.
Investigators, acting on a credible tip, surveyed the site and recorded substantial evidence of animal cruelty and illegal gambling preparations. Despite clear indicators that a cockfight was in progress, local law enforcement did not intervene during the window of active investigation.
The groups are calling on authorities in West Texas to pursue a full criminal inquiry using the evidence provided.
“There is no question that a major cockfight was either underway or recently concluded at this location,” said Wayne Pacelle, president of Animal Wellness Action and the Center for a Humane Economy. “Our investigators documented all the telltale markers of a a large-scale operation and fighting derby — a fighting pit, housing for dozens of fighting birds, and the signs of bloodshed. We urge law enforcement in the Odessa region to treat this as the felony-level crime that it is and to hold every responsible party accountable.”
Steve Hindi, president of SHARK, emphasized the urgency of intervention. “Cockfighting is organized cruelty, plain and simple. Whenever these events occur, you will also find illegal gambling, weapons, narcotics, and people with long criminal histories. Failing to act allows these violent networks to flourish.”
A Widening Criminal Network Across Texas
The Odessa discovery is part of a much larger pattern that Animal Wellness Action and SHARK have documented over the last year in West, North, and East Texas. A series of raids and investigations — from Hunt County to Potter County to Henderson County — reveal a sprawling criminal ecosystem that stretches far beyond any single derby or gamefowl farm. These include:
The North Texas Livestock Shipping Pipeline. One of the most alarming findings comes from a recent Animal Wellness Action–SHARK investigation into the North Texas Livestock Shipping Company, a Dallas-area front group exposed as a major international broker of fighting birds. The operation funneled thousands of roosters to the Philippines aboard commercial airlines, violating federal animal-fighting and export laws while feeding a billion-dollar gambling industry overseas. These are not harmless shipments — they are carefully bred weapons, trafficked across borders for violent spectacles.
“It’s an international supply chain of cruelty,” Pacelle said. “These birds are packed into crates, flown overseas, and funneled into cartel-linked pits. And far too often, Texas is the launchpad.”
El Gallo. A Marketplace for Criminal Trafficking. The groups also documented cockfighters gathering openly this year at the El Gallo Shows in Alvarado and Cleveland — a tradeshow where fighting roosters, and cockfighting paraphernalia are bought, sold, and transported across state and international lines. The Alvarado event took place just months before Johnson County deputies broke up a Thanksgiving Day cockfight in the same community, arresting 25 people and rescuing more than 60 birds. The Cleveland show took place just a week before the illicit cockfighting season opened in Texas. “Like everything else the cockfighters do, these so-called “poultry shows” are nothing more than fronts for the criminal enterprise of staged animal fighting,” said Kevin Chambers, senior investigator for Animal Wellness Action.
El Gallo is not an isolated exchange; it is part of the infrastructure that sustains a highly organized criminal network. Here are a few recent cases:
- Collin County (December 2025). Deputies seized 55 live roosters, recovered cash and paraphernalia, and arrested eight suspects in an operation tied to a multi-county network.
- Johnson County (Thanksgiving 2025). Officers rescued 74 birds and detained dozens at a large holiday-season gathering that marked the start of the cockfighting season in North Texas.
- Titus County (July 2025). Deputies arrested an alleged cockfighting ringleader following undercover footage of a July 4 event featuring hundreds of fighting birds and a professionally built pit.
- Henderson County (July 2025). Law enforcement intercepted a major derby near Athens, impounding approximately 100 birds and confiscating 25 vehicles.
- Potter, San Jacinto, Cherokee, and Lynn Counties. Investigations uncovered large caches of fighting roosters — more than 160 in one case — along with associated narcotics, weapons, and illegal gambling proceeds.
- Hunt County (2025). Deputies disrupted an active derby attended by roughly 100 people, arresting 21 individuals and seizing 65 birds — with additional animals found dead at the scene.
Collectively, these incidents reveal a sprawling criminal ecosystem connecting breeders, traffickers, pit operators, and international buyers. Animal Wellness Action and SHARK have described this as the “Texoma Cockfighting Corridor,” a cross-border pipeline linking the greater Dallas–Fort Worth region with Oklahoma and international cockfighting markets such as Mexico and the Philippines.
“Cockfighting is not just a cruelty issue — it is a vector for illegal gambling, drug trafficking, money laundering, and even human-on-human violence,” Hindi added. “Every one of these operations is a magnet for criminal behavior, and ignoring them allows lawlessness to take root in rural and suburban communities across Texas.”
A Call for Stronger Enforcement Tools
Animal Wellness Action and SHARK are urging local, state, and federal authorities to pursue felony charges where warranted and to strengthen cross-agency cooperation. They also continue to call for passage of the FIGHT Act (S. 1454 / H.R. 3946) — bipartisan federal legislation endorsed by more than 1,000 agencies and organizations, including the Sheriffs’ Association of Texas — which would modernize federal enforcement tools to crack down on animal fighting ventures in the United States.
“If we are serious about dismantling these criminal operations, Congress must give law enforcement the authority and resources they need,” Pacelle said. “The Odessa investigation is another reminder that cockfighting is not fading away — it is evolving, expanding, and demanding a vigorous response.”