Savage Animal Cruelty Documented at Western Michigan Cockfight Uncovered by Animal Welfare Organizations

Allegan, Mich. — Reacting to an investigation on Saturday conducted by their field personnel that includes footage of savage animal cruelty at an illegal cockfighting derby, Showing Animals Respect and Kindness (SHARK) and Animal Wellness Action expressed grave disappointment that the Allegan County Sheriff’s Office failed to request a search warrant or take any action to stop a large cockfight near Hopkins, Mich. SHARK investigators were on the scene and obtained video of an illegal animal fighting venture on July 26^th, with unconscionable animal cruelty documented at the scene.

 A SHARK investigator alerted the sheriff’s deputies that a cockfight was in progress, but no law enforcement personnel responded to this major crime scene on 23rd Street in Hopkins. A senior law enforcement officer, who was not at the crime scene, appears to have known about the planned cockfight two days in advance.

“Something smells rotten in Allegan County, and it is not the decaying bodies of birds slashed and stabbed to death at a cockfighting pit there,” said Steve Hindi, president of SHARK, who was on the scene at the cockfighting derby. “Michigan treats cockfighting as a felony offense for good reason, and law enforcement had a duty to respond when these crimes are playing out in real time. The criminals got away and the birds were treated so badly it makes your stomach churn.”

SHARK obtained a tip about the fighting event that occurred at the private property near Hopkins. SHARK investigators, acting on that tip, investigated the site and uncovered a major cockfighting complex, with a fighting pit and several cockhouses, which temporarily house fighting birds. Video footage from the scene is available to media upon request.

“There’s no doubt that a cockfight was in progress on July 26th, and this was a major crime scene,” said Wayne Pacelle, president for Animal Wellness Action and the Center for a Humane Economy. “SHARK set the table for an enforcement action but then nobody showed up to rid the community of this heinous and sickening criminal conduct. It’s not too late for the sheriff’s office to open an investigation and use the footage obtained to make arrests.”

Cockfighting is barbaric and it is always bound up with other crimes,” the organizations note. Cockfighting is always entangled with illegal gambling, but often with money laundering, narcotics trafficking, and human on human violence.

“Cockfighting derbies are not petty crimes,” added Hindi. “They are gathering places for criminals. If you want to stop crime in the community, round up the whole cast of characters who participate in this lawlessness.”

U.S.-based cockfighters are deeply involved in a massive trade with Mexican cartels that control many major cockfighting venues south of the border. This illicit activity is creating a separate border crisis centered around animal trafficking, posing serious threats to both Americans and Mexicans.

Congress is now considering a major upgrade of the federal law against animal fighting. The Fighting Inhumane Gambling and High-Risk Trafficking Act (FIGHT) Act, H.R. 3946 and S. 1454, has been endorsed by the Michigan Sheriffs’ Association, the National Sheriffs’ Association, the National District Attorneys’ Association, and the United Egg Producers.

“If we want to root out animal fighting in our nation, it’s crucial to pass the FIGHT Act in Congress. The footage obtained in Hopkins reminds us again that there is a vast criminal network of cockfighters operating in Michigan and throughout the nation. The law must speak to disband their racket,” Pacelle added.

A fact sheet on the FIGHT Act can be found here.