A tip of the hat to Congressman Cliff Bentz for cosponsoring legislation to combat the scourges of dogfighting and cockfighting.

Cockfighters strap knives or gaffs to the birds’ legs to enhance the bloodletting in the fighting pits, while the dogs use their biting ability to tear flesh and deliver severe wounds.

The practices remain rampant, and the Fighting Inhumane Gambling and High-Risk Trafficking (FIGHT) Act, H.R. 2742, enhances U.S. capacity to deter and interdict these crimes.

U.S.-based cockfighters do regular business with cartels that control major animal-fighting venues in Mexico and reach far into the United States. In Mexico last year, in cartel violence, 20 people were massacred at a cockfighting derby, including an American. Organized crime controls the cockfighting venues in the Philippines too, with 32 people kidnapped from cockfights lost and never found.

In 2022, $13 billion was wagered on online cockfights. The smuggling of cockfighting birds from Mexico was the cause of 10 of 15 outbreaks of virulent Newcastle disease to hit the U.S. in recent decades. That’s why the United Egg Producers and other major agriculture groups back the FIGHT Act.

In rural Lane County, a cockfighter was apprehended and involved in human trafficking.

The Small and Rural Law Enforcement Executive Association, rural law enforcement in Oregon, and the American Gaming Association back the FIGHT Act. Other Oregon lawmakers join Bentz in backing this anti-crime, anti-cruelty legislation.

Wayne Pacelle

Animal Wellness Action, president

Washington, D.C.