AWA had issued multiple warning about Hawaii being a massive cockfighting hub and one of the top hotspots anywhere in the nation for this crime Washington, D.C. – Animal Wellness Action reacted to the mass shooting at the close of a cockfighting event in Oahu, noting that “it has forecast this very sort of mass shooting … Read more
Washington, D.C. — Today, Animal Wellness Action reacted with shock and alarm to an administrative commission determination that Guam Department of Agriculture law enforcement officer Ken San Nicolas would be fully reinstated in his position and given backpay even though acknowledging and conceding that he participated in illegal cockfighting. Staging an animal fight is a federal felony, with … Read more
Press Release Second of two bills bill to decriminalize cockfighting dies today in state legislature, dramatically reducing the threat of any weakening of the state’s voter-approved law Oklahoma City – The effort to unwind the state law making cockfighting a felony met with a final defeat today, with the Senate choosing not even to give … Read more
State Legislative News Analysis The measures are likely to meet same fate as prior years’ efforts to unwind the state’s most important anti-cruelty law In Oklahoma, pro-cockfighting bills in the state House and Senate are on life support, despite a well-funded lobbying campaign by the Oklahoma Gamefowl Commission (OGC); the work of its professional lobbying … Read more
Sooners see cockfighting as ‘very definition of barbarism and backwardness’ Oklahoma City — Today, Animal Wellness Action, which has been leading the effort to defend State Question 687 from efforts in the Oklahoma legislature to gut its provisions, reacted to a just-released poll from the Sooner Survey. The statistically valid survey of 500 Oklahomans revealed … Read more
A Q&A with Jewel Johnson of Rooster Sanctuary at Danzig’s Roost Cockfighting is cruelty in its purest form. Cockfighters strap knives or gaffs (curved, razor-sharp picks) to birds’ legs, place them in a pit, and goad them to fight to the death. They do it for the thrill of the bloodletting and for illegal gambling. … Read more
Press Release Animal Wellness Action and SHARK provide detailed evidence of ongoing gamecock operations built for raising and selling fighting animals in violation of Oklahoma and United States law Oklahoma City — Animal Wellness Action and SHARK have released a report on the leaders of the so-called Oklahoma Gamefowl Commission (OGC) detailing their unmistakable involvement in … Read more
Cockfighting deadens the human attributes of empathy and decency. It is criminally infectious, with cruelty then blending with gambling, money laundering, corruption of public officials, and other illicit behaviors. This kind of moral rot masquerading as sport deserves no refuge in any state, territory, county, or even neighborhood. Yet despite a strong federal law criminalizing … Read more
Press Release Groups note there have been more political donations from cockfighters in 2022 than the total number of cockfighting busts in 20 years Oklahoma City — From 2004 to 2022, there were only 29 law enforcement actions resulting in the arrest of individuals involved in cockfighting, an average of 1.75 busts a year for 75 … Read more
Press Release National animal welfare groups call on Kentucky State Police, federal law enforcement authorities to interdict Ongoing Animal Cruelty Crimes Louisville, KY — Animal Wellness Action and Showing Animals Respect and Kindness (SHARK) released a list of 16 cockfighting arenas from Butler to Pike counties that have illegally operated in the state. SHARK obtained drone … Read more