WASHINGTON—A federal district court in Louisiana today rejected a cockfighting organization's court challenge to a law that cracks down on illegal cockfighting. According to The HSUS, the decision represents a serious blow to the underground world of organized animal fighting and validates past and current efforts by the Congress to crack down on cockfighting.
The ruling by the U.S. District Court for Western Louisiana upheld amendments to the Animal Welfare Act enacted by Congress that prohibited interstate commerce in birds for fighting purposes. The HSUS was the primary group backing this change in the law.
Prior to the 2002 law, cockfighters took advantage of a loophole in the law that permitted shipment of fighting roosters to or from states or countries that did not criminalize the practice. The United Gamefowl Breeders Association, a trade group for cockfighting interests, filed suit in 2003 claiming that Congress did not have the authority to ban cockfighting.
Cockfighting is banned in 48 states. Only two states – Louisiana and New Mexico – do not have statewide bans against cockfighting.
The HSUS sought and was granted permission to intervene in the case to defend the law.
"The noose around the neck of legal cockfighting tightened further today with this important decision," said Wayne Pacelle, HSUS president and CEO. "At both the state and federal level, the law is increasingly clear: cockfighting is a gruesome and barbaric practice that should be treated as a crime."
Judge Rebecca F. Doherty ruled on the case today, rejecting arguments by the United Gamefowl Breeders Association that the 2002 federal law was unconstitutional.
Judge Doherty concluded that the fact that Congress has the authority to ban the interstate transport of fighting birds on moral grounds "is so patently true that it needs no further citation or discussion" by the Court.
"This decision sends a clear message to the United Gamefowl Breeders Association that its efforts to use the courts to promote interstate cockfighting are sorely misplaced," said Jonathan Lovvorn, vice president of animal protection litigation for The HSUS. "Federal laws restricting cockfighting are not only Constitutionally permissible, but also fall squarely within Congress' longstanding tradition of banning immoral and injurious practices from the channels of interstate commerce."
Earlier this month the U.S. Senate passed a bill, S. 382 by Senator John Ensign (R-NV), to make violations of federal animal fighting laws a felony and to criminalize the interstate commerce in cockfighting implements. Rep. Mark Green (R-WI) has introduced companion legislation, H.R. 817, that is pending in the House Judiciary Committee. More than 300 law enforcement agencies, the National Chicken Council, and the American Veterinary Medical Association have endorsed the legislation.
"The cockfighting industry operates as an international criminal syndicate," said Pacelle. "Federal law banning interstate or international commerce in fighting animals is essential in combating this form of organized animal cruelty."
Attorney Mark Colley of Holland & Knight LLP represented The HSUS in this case.
The decision is available at: www.hsus.org/web-files/PDF/USDistCourt_ruling_cockftsuit.pdf.
The Humane Society of the United States is the nation's largest animal protection organization representing more than nine million members and constituents. The non-profit organization is a mainstream voice for animals, with active programs in companion animals and equine protection, disaster preparedness and response, wildlife and habitat protection, animals in research and farm animal welfare. The HSUS protects all animals through education, investigation, litigation, legislation, advocacy, and field work. The group is based in Washington and has numerous field representatives across the country. On the web at www.hsus.org.
