Bill to reduce cockfighting from felony to misdemeanor cleared the Oklahoma House & is now before the Oklahoma Senate OKLAHOMA CITY, Oklahoma––A bill to allow individual Oklahoma counties to reduce cockfighting from a felony to a misdemeanor is halfway to becoming law, despite overwhelming opposition from Oklahoma voters. House Bill 2530, by state representative Justin […]
Cockfighters hit in four states for bribery, drugs, even “grand theft auto”
Multiple alleged perps with long rap sheets LEXINGTON, Kentucky––Restauranteur and would-be cockfighting host Cruz Alejandro “Alex” Mercado-Vazquez, of Maysville, Kentucky, is headed to prison for 15 months for allegedly attempting to bribe sheriff Patrick Boggs of Mason County, Kentucky, to ignore his cockfights. U.S. District Judge David L. Bunning sentenced Mercado-Vazquez on March 24, […]
Why didn’t Jasper County, Texas sheriff bust a big alleged cockfight?
Alleged host of cockfight previously characterized by law enforcement as a “career criminal” BUNA, Texas––“On March 12, 2023,” disclosed Showing Animals Respect & Kindness in a video posted to Facebook ten days later, “a SHARK drone located an active cockfight in Buna, Texas, in Jasper County. “The cockfight pit,” Showing Animals Respect & Kindness founder […]
Oklahoma lawmakers ask sheriffs to protect cockfighter constituents
Oklahoma law meant to stop drone investigations parallels Texas law struck down by federal court COLGATE, Oklahoma––How butt-hurt are Oklahoma cockfighters by ongoing Showing Animals Respect & Kindness [SHARK] drone surveillance, funded by the Humane Farming Association? More butt-hurt than legally literate, apparently. SHARK drone videos exposed alleged cockfights in Atoka and Cantrell counties in […]
Feds bust cockfighting spurs in the mail but ignore mailings of gamecocks
Like busting the hash pipes but not the hashish WASHINGTON D.C.––U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agents at the United Parcel Service Worldport in Louisville, Kentucky on January 17, 2023 intercepted 120 cockfighting spurs and two leg attachment sheaths “marked as handcrafted Mexican artisan rattles” sent from Mexico City to an address in Illinois, WDRB television […]
98 alleged cockfighters busted; got only $50 fines & kept birds
Weak Tennessee cockfighting penalties boost the price of eggs MAYNARDVILLE, Tennessee––Ninety-eight alleged cockfighters were cited and approximately 250 gamecocks were seized by the Union County Sheriff’s Office near Maynardville, Tennessee on January 28, 2023. Yet none of the ninety-eight suspects went to jail. All were released after paying $50 […]
“Recognized” for trash pickup, Mississippi sheriff ignored cockfighters
Two cockfights cancelled in Kentucky, but two go on in Mississippi despite tips to Lee County Sheriff Department TUPELO, Mississippi––Driving south with the Showing Animals Respect & Kindness [SHARK] drone squadron, through Kentucky en route to Mississippi on the first weekend of January 2023, SHARK founder Steve Hindi felt gratified to discover that two of […]
Eight life terms plus 121 years for murders linked to cockfighting
One suspected cockfighting family massacred another CINCINNATI, Ohio; MANILA, Philippines––Among the evidentiary photos and video obtained by Showing Animals Respect & Kindness during cockfights at Honest Abe’s pit in Pine Knot, McCreary County, Kentucky on December 17, 2022 was extensive documentation of the presence of small children, with their supposed parents, barely an arm’s […]
How SHARK stole Christmas from a bar full of alleged cockfighters
Who in Whoville called SHARK? Who called the cops? Who tipped off the cockfighters? Who wants to know? PINE KNOT, Kentucky––Whoville, the primary setting of the 1957 Dr. Suess fable How The Grinch Stole Christmas, huddled beneath the abandoned Star Studying Tower on Mount Crumpit, might almost have been modeled on the poverty-stricken former coal […]
Three members of chicken fighting Easterling family sent to the pen
Now they can play with their cocks in prison VERBENA, Alabama––The chickens came home to roost for seven convicted gamefowl cocks-of-the-walk from the Easterling family on October 13, 2022, November 30, 2022, and December 6, 2022. Six Easterlings and an inlaw who was among their employees were sentenced on those three days for multiple […]