And organized crime associated with cockfighting is not just a few rotten eggs HONOLULU, Hawaii––Five days after an alleged cockfight attendee shot five others in Māʻili, Hawaii, 30 miles from Honolulu, murdering two and wounding three, the Hawaiian killings continued to both upstage and illustrate the efforts of Animal Wellness Action and Showing Animals […]
Lobbyists for dogfighting, cockfighting, & corruption prevail in Oklahoma
HB 1792 would drop felony penalty for dogfighting to a $500 fine OKLAHOMA CITY––“What’s next, lobby groups for dogfighters and drug lords?” Animal Wellness Action president Wayne Pacelle asked Oklahoman investigative reporter Ben Felder in early March 2023. Felder had just revealed that “The Oklahoma Gamefowl Commission, a political action committee, has donated more than […]
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 […]
“Kangaroos are not shoes” campaign kicks back against ghost of Pelé
Demand for soccer shoes helps to drive increased kangaroo culling BETHESDA, Maryland––When Pelé, the most famous and perhaps the greatest soccer player of all time, died on December 29, 2022, almost nobody figuratively jumped on his grave. There was, however, one exception, Center for a Humane Economy and Animal Wellness Action president Wayne Pacelle. […]
Seven members of Alabama cockfighting family plead guilty to federal charges
Exported gamecocks around the world MONTGOMERY, Alabama––Cockfighters and gamefowl breeders Brent Easterling, William Easterling, and five other members of their family on August 11, 2022 pleaded guilty to federal and state of Alabama charges filed in 2021 as “conspiracy to violate federal anti-animal fighting laws, including operating fighting pits on their properties, possessing thousands of […]
“Big Lick” horses win in court. Can they get a break from Congress?
Trump killed rule meant to stop soring WASHINGTON D.C.––Former U.S. President Donald Trump in January 2017 improperly blocked a new USDA Animal & Plant Health Inspection Service rule meant to protect show horses from taking effect, ruled a three-judge panel for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on July 22, […]
How to hang cockfighting high––and finish the job!
by Steve Hindi, founder, Showing Animals Respect & Kindness Showing Animals Respect & Kindness (SHARK) launched our “Crush Cockfighting” campaign in 2018. Cockfighting at that time had never been seriously impacted by animal advocacy, contrary to myths spread by those raising money off the issue. Cockfighting has twice been made illegal nationwide. The first time […]
Why the Second Amendment does not protect either hunting animals or self-defense
The only form of either “hunting” or “self defense” that concerned the 2nd Amendment authors was catching fugitive slaves & quelling slave revolts No part of the U.S. Constitution seems better known to hunters and other gun owners, or is more vehemently defended by pro-hunting and pro-gun organizations, than the single sentence that is the […]