Game Birds Won't Fly on Continental Airlines

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Continental Airlines has a lot to crow about.

The airline is promptly severing its ties Oct. 16 to fighting cock breeders, after HSUS investigators revealed that cockfighters were using specious claims for shipping the birds overseas.

Federal law bans foreign export of animals for fighting, but gamecock breeders in the United States have regularly shipped their birds out of the country.  They have done it with the unwitting help of airlines like Continental, unaware that their planes were being used to transport animals for fighting.  

When shipping birds to cockfighting hotbeds like Guam, the unscrupulous breeders often claim the fowl are for "show" or for pets.  HSUS investigators debunked the cockfighters' claims by showing, through public records from the Guam Department of Agriculture, that the people shipping fighting birds from the United States were cockfighters—individuals who run ads in U.S. cockfighting magazines for "the gamest cocks alive" and birds who "demand respect in the ring."

Continental Grounds Cockfighters

Many U.S. airlines fly into Guam, but Continental is the only one that ships live animals as cargo. It is estimated that between late 2003 and late 2005, Continental unwittingly shipped 6,000 fighting roosters to Guam, where cockfighting is rampant and claims the lives of millions of birds in bloody death matches.

By refusing to ship adult poultry overseas anymore, Continental Airlines is helping enforce the Animal Welfare Act and stopping the illegal flow of fighting birds. More importantly, the airline has helped deliver another blow to the already dwindling cockfighting industry.

Looking to Other Airlines

The HSUS turns its efforts next to the Philippines, the biggest global center of animal fighting. While Continental Airlines carries no cargo shipments to the Philippines, a bevy of other major airlines that do ship cargo—including fighting birds—to the Philippines should expect to hear from The HSUS shortly.

"Continental Airlines has shown true leadership in making animal welfare a priority and stopping its complicity in illegal cockfighting," John Goodwin, HSUS deputy manager of Animal Fighting Issues, said. "We hope other airlines will quickly implement similar policies to stifle animal fighters in their illegal enterprises of shipping animals overseas."

The U.S. Congress also can help ground this cruel and illegal industry by passing the Animal Fighting Prohibition Enforcement Act, which would increase penalties for interstate or foreign transport of fighting animals from a misdemeanor to a felony.

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Related Links

The HSUS v. United States Postal Service (Cockfighting magazines)

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