WASHINGTON (April 27, 2006)-The Humane Society of the United States, the nation's largest animal protection organization, today filed a legal petition calling on the U.S. Postal Service to declare two cockfighting magazines, The Gamecock and The Feathered Warrior, "nonmailable." The two magazines, which promote illegal cockfighting activities, are sent through the U.S. mail to more than 10,000 subscribers nationwide.
The federal Animal Welfare Act and Postal Service regulations prohibit the use of the U.S. mail for the purpose of promoting or furthering animal fighting activities. Despite this clear prohibition, The Feathered Warrior and The Gamecock, which are packed with cockfighting schedules and advertisements for fighting birds and implements, are regularly mailed by the Postal Service from Arkansas.
"As documented in our petition, The Gamecock and The Feathered Warrior shamelessly promote cruel, illegal cockfighting activities, and they use the Postal Service to prop up a nationwide network of criminals involved in illegal animal fighting," wrote Jonathan Lovvorn, vice president of Animal Protection Litigation for The HSUS in a letter sent today to Postmaster General and CEO John E. Potter. "We bring this matter to your urgent attention because we do not believe publishers of these cockfighting magazines should be able to continue their criminal business with impunity and to do so with the assistance of the U.S. Postal Service."
Cockfighting is illegal in 48 states and a felony in 32. Despite this, cockfighting is a multi-million dollar business, in part because of publications such as The Gamecock and The Feathered Warrior. The United Gamefowl Breeders Association, a national cockfighting organization, estimates its members sell more than $600 million worth of gamefowl each year-many of them using the two magazines for their illicit trade. The petition enumerates the many and varied ways in which The Feathered Warrior and The Gamecock regularly violate the Animal Welfare Act's prohibition on furthering and promoting animal fighting ventures, and it emphasizes the USPS' legal obligation to declare the magazines "nonmailable". The petition explains that halting the mailing of these animal fighting magazines is necessary "to promote animal welfare and to protect the public from criminal activities, violence, and the increased health risks associated with cockfighting, such as Newcastle's disease and avian influenza," and therefore "requests that the USPS issue notices to its postal offices in De Queen, Arkansas and Hartford, Arkansas-and all the other offices from where the magazines may be mailed-mandating that The Gamecock and The Feathered Warrior must be refused for mailing, seized, and disposed of, in order to ensure that these two cockfighting magazines no longer utilize the USPS for its illegal dealings."
The HSUS letter to the Postmaster General is available upon request. For more on this issue, visit The HSUS on the web at http://vocuspr.vocus.com/preview!www.hsus.org/fightingmags.
For information on The HSUS's efforts to crackdown on animal fighting, contact John Goodwin, HSUS deputy manager of animal fighting issues, at (301) 258-3156 or jgoodwin@hsus.org.
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The Humane Society of the United States represents more than 9.5 million members and constituents. The HSUS is a mainstream voice for animals, with active programs in companion animals, disaster preparedness and response, wildlife and habitat protection, animals in research, equine protection and farm animal welfare. The HSUS protects all animals through education, investigation, litigation, legislation, advocacy, and field work. The non-profit organization is based in Washington and has field representatives and offices across the country. On the web at www.hsus.org.
