By Wayne Pacelle

The March 2004 issue of The Feathered Warrior, one of the three national magazines devoted to cockfighting, offered up its usual potpourri of advertisements—cockfighting birds for $100 to $1,000 each, vitamins and stimulants for improving the birds' performances in the pit, razor-sharp knives and gaffs to ensure maximum blood, and of course books on gamefowl and cockfighting.

But the magazine also ran a full-page advertisement from a Toyota dealer in central Kentucky offering $500 off the purchase of a truck if the buyer was a member of the Kentucky Gamefowl Breeders Association (KYGBA), a group that purports to fancy gamefowl, but actually exists to promote cockfighting. The ad also promised that the dealership, Toyota on Nicholasville, would donate $100 to KYGBA for every truck sale to an association member. In short, the dealer had set up a special deal for cockfighters that would increase the membership of KYGBA and provide revenue to the group.

"The KYGBA is a group of cockfighters that has a record of promoting the inhumane and barbaric practice of instigated animal fighting—a practice that is illegal under Kentucky law," I wrote in a letter to Toyota on behalf of The HSUS. "It is outrageous and unethical for this Toyota dealer to raise money for this network of cockfighters. This promotion should be halted today."

KYGBA's latest ploy was no great surprise to The HSUS, which has closely followed the group, which is known to be the most brazen of statewide cockfighting organizations. The association treated the Kentucky Supreme Court's 1994 ruling, which essentially outlawed cockfighting, as little more than a minor inconvenience to the conduct of their normal operations.

After receiving our letter and then hearing from the press, officials at Toyota beat a hasty retreat on the issue, announcing that it "had made a terrible mistake" and would sever its relationship with the cockfighting group. "The ownership of Toyota on Nicholasville does not support this group's activities and has immediately demanded that its management and employees cease any association with this organization," read a company statement.

The firestorm over the collaboration demonstrated that cockfighting is still a significant underground industry with a devoted following; after all, the dealership apparently felt that there were enough cockfighters to justify a targeted promotion to the group. But by quickly jettisoning the cockfighters, the car dealer proved that even potential allies of the industry know that any alliance with a group held in such contempt can ultimately serve no benefit.

The cockfighters are radioactive from a political and corporate perspective.

Our Offensive Against Cockfighting

Since its founding in 1954, The HSUS has campaigned aggressively against cockfighting, investigating illegal animal fighting activities, training law enforcement officials on investigating and prosecuting illegal animal fighters, and working for laws against the activity.

In 1997, we stepped up our political attack on the bloodsport, helping to launch successful ballot initiatives in Arizona and Missouri to outlaw cockfighting and make it a felony offense. Voters approved ballot initiatives in these states in 1998.

In 1999, we launched a campaign to close a loophole in the federal animal fighting law in order to ban interstate or foreign commerce in fighting birds; after a high-profile political tussle—in which cockfighters hired several former senators to slow down the progress of the legislation—Congress enacted the transport ban in 2002. And that same year, we helped to pass a ballot initiative in Oklahoma to outlaw cockfighting and make it a felony offense.

We also moved to strengthen laws in other states. In 2003, we helped to pass laws in Florida and Oregon—states with major "underground" cockfighting operations—to outlaw the sale and possession of fighting birds and to make cockfighting and related activities felony offenses. That same year, California upgraded its penalties for illegal cockfighting. And in 2004, Iowa and Maryland joined the ranks, making it a felony to engage in cockfighting and related activities.

Since 1997, a total of 14 states have upgraded penalties for cockfighting. Those who engage in cockfighting in any one of 31 states will now face felony charges if caught.

The Fight to Stop Animal Fighting

The cockfighters have fought us every step of the way. And they continue to fight in the courts.

Immediately after voters approved the anti-cockfighting ballot initiative in Oklahoma, cockfighters filed lawsuits in rural counties throughout the state to block enforcement of the law. Finally, in March 2004—more than 15 months after voters approved the ban—the Oklahoma Supreme Court unanimously ruled that the anti-cockfighting law is constitutional.

Dozens of cockfighting pits in the state have been forced to shut down, even as the cockfighters' leading advocate in the legislature, state Senator Frank Shurden (D-Henryetta), attempts to place a measure on the ballot in November 2004 to decriminalize the activity. If Shurden fails, the cockfighters' fall-back strategy is to qualify an initiative petition for the statewide ballot to protect cockfighting and a wide range of other animal uses. But most observers predict that the cockfighters won't even come close to gathering the signatures needed to put the measure to a vote.

The cockfighting community also filed a claim in U.S. District Court in Lafayette, Louisiana to invalidate the 2002 amendments to the federal law against animal fighting. The cockfighters' attorney, a former dean of the Tulane Law School, argued that the ban is unconstitutional, and even proffered the fanciful argument that the law discriminates against Cajuns, African-Americans, and Hispanics.

Meanwhile, we have worked in dozens of states to bust illegal cockfighting operations. In Florida this past February, we worked with local law enforcement and humane society officials to bust major cockfighting operations in Indian River County, confiscating more than 1,700 fighting birds.

We have also worked with law enforcement to orchestrate the arrests of illegal cockfighters in counties throughout California and the rest of the country. We are training hundreds of law enforcement personnel every year on how to conduct effective investigations and raids.

And Then There Were Two

The only two states that still allow cockfighting are Louisiana and New Mexico, even though some parishes and counties in these states outlaw the practice.

In 2003, The HSUS commissioned a poll with Animal Protection of New Mexico (APNM), which revealed that 81% of New Mexicans want cockfighting outlawed. A bill to accomplish that goal passed the state House in 2003, but one senator prevented consideration of the legislation by the full Senate, and the bill died. The HSUS and APNM intend to mount a major effort in 2005 to get the bill over the finish line, and to get Governor Bill Richardson to take a stand against the barbaric practice.

In Louisiana, The HSUS and The Fund for Animals commissioned a poll of voters in March 2004. The survey revealed that Louisiana voters have no more sympathy for cockfighting than do voters in other states. The statewide survey revealed 82% of residents oppose cockfighting, and that every demographic group takes a dim view of the staged combat.

State Representative Karen Carter (D-New Orleans) introduced a bill, H.B. 681, in January 2004 to make cockfighting a felony. In May, the House Committee on Agriculture defeated the bill in a 9–5 vote, but we are working to have the bill voted on by the full House.

In recent months, the state's major newspapers have denounced cockfighting. The Lafayette Advertiser opined, "We hope lawmakers…bring an end to the sport…They [fighting birds] will continue to do battle even after being slashed repeatedly, brutally and fatally…When they are finally ripped to death in the ring, however, their corpses are usually tossed aside like road-kill."

The Shreveport Times added, "There is no compelling reason, cultural or otherwise, why Louisiana should be one of the last bastions of such a bloody endeavor."

And law enforcement agencies from throughout the state have lined up against the activity. At a press conference in New Orleans, Jefferson Parish Sheriff Harry Lee stated, "I support H.B. 681 to ban cockfighting in Louisiana. As you all know, I love the sport of hunting and fishing, but cockfighting is not a sport. We're one of only two states in the nation that still allows this barbaric practice, and when this law passes, my office will vigorously enforce the ban."

A Renewed Effort in Congress

While we have stepped up our efforts in the states to outlaw cockfighting, we have not relented in our efforts at the federal level. In 2002, the Congress passed a ban on the interstate transport or export of fighting birds. But during the final negotiations on the bill, members of the Agriculture Committee stripped the bill of its felony-level penalties.

In 2003, we worked with Senators John Ensign (R-NV), Wayne Allard (R-CO), and Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and Representatives Roscoe Bartlett (R-MD) and Robert Andrews (D-NJ) to introduce companion bills, S. 736 and H.R. 1532, to restore the felony-level penalty and also to make it a felony to transport cockfighting implements in interstate or foreign commerce.

The bills have attracted about 250 cosponsors, and they have been endorsed by more than 160 law enforcement agencies. And in early May, Representatives Mark Green (R-WI) and Elton Gallegly (R-CA) introduced a new bill, H.R. 4264, to further strengthen penalties for illegal transport of fighting animals and make the offense part of Title 18 of the United States criminal code.

Recently, the National Chicken Council (NCC)—the trade group for the poultry industry, which has long been silent on the cockfighting issue—endorsed the federal legislation. The NCC called cockfighting "inhumane" and noted that fighting birds were "heavily implicated" in an outbreak of exotic Newcastle disease in Southern California in 2002 and 2003. NCC added that "the traffic associated with cockfighting could also spread avian influenza."

In 2003, The HSUS worked to secure $800,000 in funding for enforcement of the federal law against animal fighting. In 2004, we are seeking $1.2 million, recognizing that a law is only as valuable as the enforcement effort that accompanies it.

In short, we will not relent in our efforts until these activities are rooted out of every community in the United States.