Infant killed by fentanyl as parents ran dogfighting operations out of home, cops say. Charelston, SC — Animal welfare groups renewed their urgent appeal to Congress to pass the FIGHT Act after news that the alleged operators of a dogfighting ring in South Carolina allowed their 10-month-daughter to be killed by exposure to fentanyl, the … Read more

Appellate Court Ruling Should Close Out Discussion on Application of Federal Law to CNMI, Guam, and Puerto Rico Washington, D.C. — Yesterday, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a District Court dismissal of a legal challenge by a cockfighter and former Northern Mariana Islands local politician and executive agency official seeking to nullify the application of … Read more

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Press Release Animal welfare groups says voters showed public sentiment remains strong against weakening the state’s anti-cockfighting laws Tulsa, OK — The results are in for the August 27 primary run-off elections in Oklahoma, and overall, some major pro-cockfighting candidates went down to defeat. This will have the effect of cementing the overwhelming opposition of … Read more

Press Release Group urges voters in Senate District 33 to vote for ‘anyone but Shelley Gwartney’ in the August 27th run-off primary. Tulsa, OK — Animal Wellness Action today urged Republican primary voters in Oklahoma Senate District 33 (Broken Arrow, Tulsa) to reject Shelley Gwartney in her quest for that seat because of her full-throated acceptance … Read more

Tennessee law enforcement joins National Sheriffs’ and hundreds of other agencies and organizations in signaling illegal animal fighting is rampant and must be pulled up at the roots Washington, D.C. — National animal-welfare groups applauded the Tennessee Sheriffs’ Association (TSA) for endorsing the FIGHT Act in Congress and urging the state’s U.S. Senators and Representatives … Read more

Federal and county law enforcement taking on more cases, breaking up more cockfighting and dogfighting rings Riverside, CA — Leaders of Animal Wellness Action and the Center for a Humane Economy praised the FBI for its Sunday break-up of a cockfighting ring in the Inland Empire, exercising a federal anti-animal fighting law that can deliver … Read more

Sheriffs organizations nationwide have swung behind a national bill called the FIGHT Act to provide more tools for law enforcement to crack down on animal-fighting crimes Buckley, WA — The recent raid on an abandoned building in Pierce county, Wash., revealed evidence — including 140 roosters — of a massive cockfighting ring in Buckley, and … Read more

Press Release Major bust in Granville County may lead to unraveling a larger cockfighting network providing fighting birds to illegal pits throughout North Carolina and trafficking of fighting animals to Mexico and to other far-off outposts Granville County, NC — The cockfighting bust led by the Granville County Sheriff’s Office has produced evidence of involvement … Read more

Granville County bust this weekend offers a window into the ongoing lawlessness of illegal animal fighters, who are often tied to other crimes Granville County, NC — Animal Wellness Action and the Center for a Humane Economy report that a major cockfighting bust over the weekend with dozens of arrests, 200 roosters removed, buckets of … Read more

Case offers another indicator of the need for federal law to eradicate illegal staged animal fighting, animal welfare groups say Wausau, WI — Wayne Pacelle, president of Animal Wellness Action and the Center for a Humane Economy, offered this statement on news that a Wausau man convicted in a cockfighting scheme is now facing federal … Read more