Press Release Investigation Reveals Criminal Enterprises Continue Washington, D.C. — Animal Wellness Action (AWA) and the Animal Wellness Foundation (AWF) today asked U.S. Attorney Jay E. Town to investigate allegations of ongoing cockfighting activity in Alabama, including trafficking of game birds to Guam, a U.S. Territory. The request for action follows an investigation by AWA and … Read more
Oklahoma City — Former Oklahoma Attorney General Drew Edmondson is asking U.S. Attorney Brian J. Kuester to investigate allegations of ongoing trafficking of birds to Guam for cockfighting, for illegally possessing fighting animals, and perhaps engaging in other conduct at odds with state and federal law. Mr. Kuester, based in Muskogee, has jurisdiction for the Eastern District of … Read more
Nature — by that, I mean the Earth’s crust and atmosphere, its five kingdoms of living organisms, water and fire and rock, the effects of the sun and moon, and all other interrelated parts and processes — is more than a mere backdrop for the human experience. It is, and has always been, central to … Read more
In what constitutes perhaps the riskiest imaginable practice when it comes to animal-to-human disease transmission, some cockfighters are known to put the head of a rooster in their mouth to suck airway secretions from the injured and exhausted animal. For the cockfighter, sucking up the blood and other secretions from the lungs and other air … Read more
In light of the Coronavirus Pandemic, It’s Common Sense to Crack Down on Reckless and Economically Insignificant Animal-Use Enterprises Such as Live Animal Markets and Cockfights WASHINGTON, D.C. — There are reports from Guam indicating that cockfighting has dramatically waned since the federal ban went into effect on December 20th. Today, Animal Wellness Action and the Animal … Read more
Washington, D.C. — This week, the United States, Animal Wellness Action (AWA) and the Animal Wellness Foundation (AWF) submitted their respective arguments to the U.S. District Court in Guam and urged the federal judge presiding in the case to reject the arguments that the law extending animal fighting to the territories is unconstitutional as argued … Read more
Federal Law Is Brazenly Defied, Even by Politicians Rightly Pleading for Federal Disaster Relief (Washington, D.C.) — Dozens of citizens of Puerto Rico are writing to Animal Wellness Action (AWA) to alert the organization to illegal cockfighting activities on the island, signaling their own opposition to the bloody spectacles and reminding the nation that cockfighters … Read more
Here we go again. China’s “wet markets” have triggered one more global health epidemic. Wet markets are open-air abattoirs, offering up dozens of species of live animals, including fish in tanks and wildlife in crates, for selection and slaughter by those with an appetite for biodiversity. These pop-up butcheries, with animals jammed in cages and … Read more
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Animal Wellness Foundation (AWF) and Animal Wellness Action (AWA) today provided a preview of its 30-second television advertisement to air during Sunday’s Super Bowl on Guam. The ad features two Guamanians of Chamorro descent who describe cockfighting as “about gambling, not about our culture” and ending “the medieval practice of having animals … Read more
Animal welfare leaders argue that the government of Guam should not act as a “pass-through enterprise” or a “go-between” for cockfighters breaking the law WASHINGTON, D.C. — Shipping records obtained from the territorial Department of Agriculture revealed that there were 137 individuals who imported nearly 9,000 fighting birds onto Guam over the last three years. It is … Read more