Animal Groups Applaud Federal and State Landmark Crackdown on Illicit Breeding and Shipping Animals for Staged Fights

 LOUISVILLE — Calling the federal indictments “a watershed moment in the enforcement of federal animal-fighting laws,” three animal-welfare organizations today applauded federal charges against five Kentucky men accused of participating in extensive cockfighting operations.

Federal indictments filed Sept. 10 in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky now charge Christopher Copas, Don Ray Haley, also known as “Donny Haley,” James Holland, Ramon Escamilla, and Eric Escamilla in separate cases.

Animal Wellness Action, the Center for a Humane Economy, and Showing Animals Respect and Kindness (SHARK) praised the U.S. Department of Justice, including the FBI and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Kentucky; the U.S. Department of Agriculture; the Kentucky State Police; and other federal, state and local law enforcement agencies for charging the alleged perpetrators with “possession” of fighting animals.

On June 23 and 24, federal agents executed search warrants at multiple Kentucky gamefowl-breeding operations. The warrants cited alleged violations of 7 U.S.C. § 2156, the federal animal-fighting prohibition; 18 U.S.C. § 371, conspiracy; and 18 U.S.C. § 554, smuggling goods from the United States.

The organizations said the indictments demonstrate the reach of federal laws prohibiting the possession, sale, purchase, training, transportation, delivery and receipt of animals for use in fighting ventures. The national animal fighting law also prohibits interstate or foreign commerce in fighting animals.

“Several years ago, we identified Kentucky cockfighting complexes shipping fighting animals to die in pits around the nation and around the world,” said Wayne Pacelle, president of Animal Wellness Action and the Center for a Humane Economy. “We documented organized cockfighting through extensive online investigations, undercover work inside cockfighting pits, and aerial surveillance using drones. We knew then what federal investigators have now confirmed — that Kentucky cockfighting has been involved in a conspiracy to violate our national law against animal fighting.”

“Cockfighting gangs and cartels, and their interwoven ties to drug, weapons, and human trafficking, are on par with terrorism, and must be fought nationwide,” said Steve Hindi, president of SHARK, Showing Animals Respect and Kindness.  SHARK and its network of informants have uncovered more than a dozen illicit fighting pits in the state, many of them with stadium-style seating.

• Christopher Copas, (Indictment Link) of Bowling Green, operated Kentucky Acres Game Farm at 1200 Price Chapel Road in Bowling Green for the alleged purpose of breeding, raising, training and selling roosters to participate in cockfighting. The indictment alleges that Copas possessed roosters and immature male chickens for purposes of having them participate in an animal-fighting venture. He is also charged with knowingly possessing a Lorcin Model L25 .25-caliber pistol that had an obliterated serial number.
• Don Ray Haley (Indictment Link) is charged with knowingly possessing roosters and immature male chickens for purposes of having the animals participate in an animal-fighting venture. The indictment alleges that Haley operated a rooster-breeding operation at 165 Phillips Road in Elkton, Kentucky, for the purpose of breeding, raising, training and selling roosters for cockfighting.
• James Holland (Indictment Link) is charged with knowingly possessing roosters and immature male chickens for purposes of having them participate in an animal-fighting venture. The indictment alleges that Holland and others operated Possum Hill Gamefowl at 1975 Claypool Alvaton Road in Bowling Green for the purpose of breeding, raising, training and selling roosters to participate in cockfighting.
• Ramon and Eric Escamilla (Indictment Link) are charged with conspiracy to violate federal animal-fighting laws. According to the indictment, Ramon Escamilla operated a rooster-breeding operation at 697 Hill Road in Bowling Green, where he and his son, Eric Escamilla, allegedly bred, raised, trained and sold roosters for cockfighting. The indictment alleges that the two exhibited fighting roosters in cockfighting derbies and sold and shipped roosters to customers in Mexico, the Philippines and elsewhere.

Pacelle said the organizations have long argued that existing federal laws provide prosecutors with the authority needed to dismantle organized cockfighting networks but that those provisions require consistent and vigorous enforcement.

“We’ve long maintained that Congress gave federal authorities the legal tools they need to combat organized cockfighting,” said Pam Rogers, Kentucky state director for Animal Wellness Action. “This case demonstrates the power of those laws when they are vigorously enforced.”

Rogers, Pacelle, and Hindi noted that the Kentucky State Police has significantly increased its enforcement efforts. They also applauded federal authorities for bringing a “pathbreaking case grounded on the illegal possession of birds for fighting ventures and their transportation across state and national borders.”

Congress made violations of the federal animal-fighting law felonies in 2007 and expanded the law in 2008 to prohibit knowingly possessing, training, selling, buying, transporting, delivering or receiving animals for use in fighting ventures.

“When law enforcement prioritizes these cases, it can begin dismantling deeply entrenched criminal networks that breed, sell, transport, and fight animals for profit,” Pacelle added.

Animal Wellness Action, the Center for a Humane Economy, and SHARK said they remain committed to supporting law enforcement agencies across the nation by exposing organized cockfighting, documenting trafficking networks, and advocating for stronger state and federal animal-protection laws.

MEDIA ASSETS: Video footage and a backgrounder on cockfighting in Kentucky.