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Animal Fighting Magazine To Be Knocked Off Amazon.com

May 22, 2008

By Ariana Huemer


	©The HSUS
	The Gamecock's settlement in the lawsuit against it and Amazon.com leaves Amazon on even shakier ground.

Amazon.com's indefensible defense of its "right" to sell animal fighting materials has taken a big hit.

In 2007, The Humane Society of the United States filed a lawsuit in federal court to stop Amazon.com from peddling two barbaric animal fighting magazines—The Gamecock and The Feathered Warrior—in violation of an HSUS-backed federal law that prohibits the advertising and sale of fighting birds, fighting dogs, and animal fighting paraphernalia.

In May 2008, The Gamecock, one of Amazon.com's codefendants in the lawsuit and the country's oldest and best-known cockfighting publication, decided to throw in the towel and settle the case. As part of the settlement terms, The Gamecock agreed to:

revamp its format to remove from its pages all advertisements for fighting dogs, fighting birds and weapons used in animal fighting;
print a notice that it will not run such advertisements; and
instruct Amazon.com to remove The Gamecock from Amazon.com's website—its main distribution hub—for at least one year, during which time the magazine must demonstrate compliance with federal law.

The Gamecock's decision to settle comes on the heels of a Supreme Court decision declaring that the advertising and promotion of child pornography is not protected under the First Amendment. The ruling makes clear that those who peddle contraband like child pornography and animal fighting paraphernalia can find no refuge for their despicable actions in the First Amendment.

What You Can Do

Please contact Amazon.com's CEO Jeffrey Bezos and urge him to stop selling animal fighting materials. There is no excuse for Amazon.com taking a more extreme position in defense of animal fighting than The Gamecock magazine.

Ariana Huemer is a cruelty case manager for The Humane Society of the United States.

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