Press STATEMENT WASHINGTON, D.C. — Animal Wellness Action today praised the Jasper County Sheriff’s Office and federal agencies following a major law enforcement operation on Saturday that dismantled an alleged organized cockfighting enterprise tied to broader criminal activity. The coordinated operation was the result of a months-long investigation into a large-scale illegal network involving cockfighting, gambling, … Read more
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Animal Wellness Action today commended the swift and decisive actions of the Chaves County Sheriff’s Office in dismantling an illegal cockfighting operation in southeastern New Mexico that drew more than 100 participants. New Mexico was the 49th state to ban cockfighting, only outlawing staged knife fights between birds in 2007, with the late Governor … Read more
Santa Barbara is one of at least 22 California counties that limit rooster numbers to enable law enforcement to shut down cockfighting operations without having to raid a cockfight in progress and put officers at risk from a mob of armed cockfighters. SANTA BARBARA COUNTY, Calif.— Animal Wellness Action today applauded Santa Barbara County Animal … Read more
A ban on greyhound racing was added to the Farm bill, but there’s continuing debate over a range of other provisions, good and bad This week brought major developments in Congress on the long-delayed Farm bill, and I want you to hear directly from me about what happened inside the House Agriculture Committee — the … Read more
Animal Wellness Action applauds Cherokee Nation Attorney General for bringing charges for organized staged fights Tulsa, Okla. — Animal Wellness Action today praised law enforcement authorities for pursuing felony animal cruelty charges against a former county sheriff in connection with alleged cockfighting operations conducted on Cherokee Nation land in McIntosh County. According to court records, Jeff Coleman, … Read more
Raids of cockfighting complexes continue to reveal that California may have more illegal cockfighting than any other state San Francisco — Animal Wellness Action applauded the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office for raiding a cockfighting complex with more than 800 birds. Deputies discovered birds of the major fighting breeds, cockfighting knives, betting slips, and other telltale … Read more
Paeans of praise are surfacing online among Mexican and American cockfighters after the killing of the “Lord of the Roosters” — one of the hemisphere’s most violent criminals who was obsessed with cockfighting Washington, D.C. – Underscoring the connection between malicious animal abuse and violence against people, the Mexican government’s killing this week of Nemesio … Read more
Our investigation documents how America has become the cockfighting breeding ground for the world, with the Philippines a central destination for U.S.-raised fighting animals There are moments in an investigation that sear themselves into memory. For our investigators at Animal Wellness Action and the Center for a Humane Economy, that moment came inside the Smart … Read more
An Animal Wellness Action Investigation Bright lights. Corporate sponsors. And at the center — animals forced to kill each other. I stood surrounded by 10,000 spectators — almost all men — shouting and gesturing wildly inside a packed coliseum in Manila. On a raised dirt platform six men were preparing for the next fight. On … Read more
Humane advocates, egg and poultry farmers, and law enforcement officials need help in shutting down the animal fighting industry. It’s time for the hunting and environmental communities to step up. by Ted Williams Staged animal fights, in which dogs and roosters are bred and trained to tear each other to shreds for entertainment and gambling, … Read more