The era of disregarding animal welfare laws cannot end soon enough Reports from China this week are delivering a dose of heartbreak and how-can-it-happen. Dog meat traders are butchering terrified and terrorized dogs at the infamous Yulin festival, selling their parts to buyers in defiance of a new Chinese regulation that reclassified dogs from “livestock” to … Read more
Group Offers $5,000 Reward for Info that Leads to Animal Fighting Arrests, Convictions BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA — The Animal Wellness Foundation (AWF) and Animal Wellness Action (AWA) today announced a $5,000 reward for information resulting in successful prosecution of any individual for violating the federal law (7 U.S.C. § 2156) against animal fighting. The announcement follows … Read more
Animal Wellness Investigations Exposing Vast Network of Animal Fighting Operations in Alabama and Oklahoma Last fall, Animal Wellness Action launched a campaign to banish cockfighting in the territories, the last semi-legal outposts allowing staged fights in the nation. Puerto Rico had more than 100 fighting arenas. Guam had bustling venues, too, including “The Dome,” where … Read more
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