![\"Gamecock](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.animals24-7.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/Picsart_25-03-31_21-17-21-833-e1743481076771.jpg?ssl=1\")
<\/a><\/p>\n(Beth Clifton collage)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n LITTLE ROCK, \u00a0Arkansas<\/strong>\u2013\u2013 \u201cThe Arkansas House passed the pro cockfighting bill,\u00a0 with an alarming 69 out of 100 state representatives voting for HB1611,\u201d\u00a0 Animal Wellness Action state representative Desiree Bender posted to social media late on March 31,\u00a0 2025,\u00a0 \u201cpotentially making our state the nation\u2019s first safe haven for cockfighters.\u201d<\/p>\n HB 1611,\u00a0 passed with only 13 \u201cnay\u201d votes and 12 abstentions,\u00a0 and with only two Republican opponents,\u00a0 among 81 Republican members of the Arkansas House was referred immediately afterward to the Arkansas Senate judiciary committee.<\/p>\n If cleared by the judiciary committee,\u00a0 HB 1611 will go before the full 35-member Arkansas Senate,\u00a0 with 29 Republican members,\u00a0 against only six Democrats.<\/p>\n (Beth Clifton collage)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cCurrent law already protects legitimate poultry breeders by requiring proof of intent\u2014knowingly breeding or selling birds for fighting\u2014shielding those raising poultry for lawful purposes like farming or shows,\u201d\u00a0 Bender explained.<\/p>\n \u201cYet HB 1611 weakens this, \u00a0offering legal cover to those breeding roosters for cockfighting under the guise of National Poultry Improvement Plan certification.<\/p>\n \u201cIt ties law enforcement\u2019s hands,\u201d\u00a0 Bender charged, \u00a0\u201cbarring spectator arrests without hard proof of payment\u2014a near-impossible hurdle in underground fights.<\/p>\n \u201cSupporters claim it guards against wrongful prosecutions, \u00a0but with zero cases of innocent breeders targeted, \u00a0that\u2019s a flimsy excuse. \u00a0The real effect?<\/p>\n (Beth Clifton collage)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cIt paves a legal path for cockfighters to churn out fighting roosters for export,\u201d\u00a0 Bender detailed, \u00a0\u201cfueling bloody online cockfighting markets like e-sabong,\u201d\u00a0 the Philippine version of online cockfighting associated with at least 34 murders and disappearances, \u00a0\u201call while dodging accountability.<\/p>\n \u201cThese 69 lawmakers either missed the mark or knowingly backed a bill that trades Arkansas\u2019s integrity for a nonexistent problem,\u201d\u00a0 assessed Bender.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Those 69 lawmakers also voted against public health and safety,\u00a0 knowingly or not,\u00a0 and voted most conspicuously of all against the health of the Arkansas state economy.<\/p>\n (Beth Clifton collage)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Proportionate to state economic activity,\u00a0 no state has more to lose than Arkansas from the H5N1 avian influenza,\u00a0 transmitted primarily by wild waterfowl,\u00a0 but secondarily by the transport of gamefowl.<\/p>\n \u201cPoultry production,\u201d\u00a0 a $36 billion-a-year industry in Arkansas, \u00a0\u201caccounts for one in four agricultural jobs in Arkansas,\u201d\u00a0 boasts the Arkansas Farm Bureau.<\/p>\n \u201cCompanies that produce and process chicken in Arkansas employ as many as 37,260 people across the state and generate an additional 70,739 jobs in supplier and ancillary industries,\u201d\u00a0 the Arkansas Farm Bureau adds,\u00a0 mentioning that Arkansas ranks third among the 50 U.S. states in production of meat chickens and fourth in production of turkeys.<\/p>\n (Beth Clifton collage)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n But the Arkansas poultry industry has already lost more than half a million birds to H5N1 and H5N1 control measures since 2022.<\/p>\n And H5N1 in 2025 has already turned up in one \u201chobby flock,\u201d\u00a0 the standard euphemism for gamefowl producers,\u00a0 after having been discovered in two in 2024.<\/p>\n Each infected flock is a potential vector for spreading H5N1 to others via the boots and clothing of gamefowl handlers who also often work in the poultry industry.<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/strong>Warning for months against the potential effects of Arkansas HB 1611,\u00a0 Desiree Bender,\u00a0 Animal Wellness Action,\u00a0 and the aligned Center for a Humane Economy were hardly alone.<\/p>\n Former boxer Roy Jones Jr. (right) at “US Gamefowl Commission” meeting.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cThe United States Gamefowl Commission has inserted itself into Arkansas,\u201d\u00a0 Southeast Politics\u00a0<\/em>writer Peter Schorsch cautioned on December 11,\u00a0 2023,\u00a0 \u201cas the organization seeks to unify states around what it describes as a \u2018nationwide political movement\u2019 to \u2018fight for our Liberties, Freedoms and Rights.\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cThat means decriminalizing cockfighting.<\/p>\n \u201cArkansas lobbying firm JCD Consulting Services has been retained to advocate for the organization and it has hired a staffer to lead fundraising efforts in Arkansas, Jamie Jones,\u201d\u00a0 Schorsch continued,\u00a0 explaining that \u201cThe U.S. Gamefowl Commission is led by Anthony DeVore, \u00a0its president, \u00a0and Blake Pearce, \u00a0its vice president.<\/p>\n \u201cThe same two men are also in leadership roles with the Oklahoma chapter of the group,\u201d\u00a0 Schorsch explained, \u00a0\u201cwhich has been working to reduce fines and criminal penalties for cockfighting in Oklahoma.\u201d<\/p>\n Anthony Devore.\u00a0 (Beth Clifton collage)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n As well as lobbying for cockfighters,\u00a0 DeVore has according to his LinkedIn page operated an Ardmore solar energy contracting business called Texoma Solar Solutions since 2015,\u00a0 subject of at least 34 separate sets of unresolved consumer complaints to the Better Business Bureau and at least two lawsuits.<\/p>\n DeVore and Pearce,\u00a0 in Arkansas,\u00a0 appear to be working primarily with John Slavin,\u00a0 whom Animal Wellness Action and Center for a Humane Economy president Wayne Pacelle alleges \u201chas been illegally trafficking birds since Congress banned sales and shipments of fighting birds in 2002.<\/p>\n \u201cFive years later, \u00a0that crime of fighting bird shipments became a federal felony. \u00a0And it became a felony in Arkansas in 2009 to sell fighting birds to anyone,\u201d\u00a0 Pacelle mentioned,\u00a0 but the law has not been enforced.<\/p>\n Susanna Watt, founder Anchor Strategies (a lobbying firm).\u00a0 <\/strong><\/em>(Beth Clifton collage)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cThe newly formed Arkansas Gamefowl Commission has hired lobbyist Suzanna Watt of Anchor Strategies,\u201d\u00a0 Pacelle warned in November 2024.<\/p>\n Watt,\u00a0 Pacelle \u00a0said,\u00a0 was \u201cschooling cockfighters on how to deceive legislators about who they are and what they do.\u201d<\/p>\n (See Cockfighters, raw milkers, bacteria, & bird flu meet in political alliance<\/a>, \u00a0Pro-cockfighting sheriff loses election, anti-cockfighting sheriff loses coin flip<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Alleged cockfight hosts charged; Gamefowl Commission head is sued<\/a>.)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Arkansas,\u00a0 Pacelle noted,\u00a0 is the longtime major crossroads of cockfighting traffic in U.S.,\u00a0 by dint of bordering on six other states with major illegal cockfighting issues: \u00a0Oklahoma, Louisiana, Missouri,\u00a0 Tennessee,\u00a0 Mississippi,\u00a0 and Texas.<\/p>\n A rooster is removed from his pen by an investigator with the SPCA of Texas.<\/strong><\/em> Underscoring that point was the March 30,\u00a0 2025 arrest of 21 alleged cockfighters and seizure of 67 roosters at a cockfighting derby reportedly attended by about 100 people in Hunt County,\u00a0 Texas\u2013\u2013about 60 miles from the Arkansas border,\u00a0 east of Dallas.<\/p>\n Hunt County is just north of Titus County,\u00a0 Texas,\u00a0 where on March 15,\u00a0 2025 sheriff Chris Bragg and sheriff\u2019s lieutenant Craig Brown failed to raid a heavily attended cockfight hosted by their Facebook friend Tim Thompson,\u00a0 a longtime notorious cockfighting advocate,\u00a0 despite extensive advance notice and on-the-scene documentation supplied by drone pilots Steve Hindi of Showing Animals Respect & Kindness and Kevin Chambers,\u00a0 Oklahoma state representative for Animal Wellness Action.<\/p>\n (See Titus County, TX sheriffs didn\u2019t raid Facebook friends\u2019 alleged cockfight<\/a>.)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Sheriff’s deputies and SPCA of Texas investigators found fighting rings at a residence north of Greenville.<\/strong><\/em> Both Hunt County and Titus County are also relatively close to Ellis County,\u00a0 immediately south of Dallas,\u00a0 where Hindi and Chambers extensively documented another large cockfight on March 22,\u00a0 2025.<\/p>\n The Ellis County sheriff\u2019s office responded to Hindi and Chambers\u2019 reports about the cockfight there,\u00a0 but with an as yet unknown outcome.<\/p>\n (See Cockfight exposed in Ferris, Texas, with drone video of the actual fighting<\/a>.)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n The Hunt County raid,\u00a0 reported Kent Miller for the Greenville Herald-Banner,\u00a0 \u201cresulted in multiple arrests and the seizure of more than five dozen live roosters,\u201d\u00a0 beginning \u201cwith a tip from concerned citizens made through Animal Wellness Action and Showing Animals Respect and Kindness.<\/p>\n (Beth Clifton collage)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cDeputies and investigators from the SPCA of Texas,\u201d\u00a0 headquartered in Dallas, \u00a0\u201carrived on the scene and a search warrant was obtained to investigate further,\u201d\u00a0 Miller wrote.<\/p>\n \u201cThe ensuing search uncovered paraphernalia commonly used in cockfighting operations. \u00a0An order of seizure was obtained to seize the live roosters, \u00a0along with 10 dead ones.<\/p>\n \u201cRoosters were found in individual pens and transport boxes throughout the property,\u201d\u00a0 Miller recounted,\u00a0 along with \u201cshort knives and gaffs, \u00a0scales, \u00a0a training dummy, \u00a0syringes, \u00a0first aid supplies, \u00a0antibiotics and various performance-enhancing supplements.<\/p>\n \u201cAn indoor arena containing a makeshift fighting ring and holding pens was\u00a0splashed with blood and littered with feathers,\u201d\u00a0 Miller said.<\/p>\n \u201cA concession stand and a merchandise table were\u00a0inside the building.<\/p>\n \u201cTwelve roosters were euthanized at the SPCA of Texas’\u00a0facility in Dallas due to traumatic fighting wounds,\u201d\u00a0 Miller finished.<\/p>\n (Beth Clifton collage)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n While cockfighters appear to be having their way with the Arkansas state legislature,\u00a0 the Best Friends Animal Society so far has not succeeded in making the state a haven for pit bull breeders and dogfighters by passing a state bill against breed-specific dog legislation that would supersede and undo the pit bull bans already in effect in at least 30 Arkansas communities.<\/p>\n (See No-kill vs. high human body count: Best Friends fights Arkansas pit bull bans<\/a>.)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Best Friends Animal Society representatives are,\u00a0 however,\u00a0 howling to Little Rock media about the Little Rock City Board having recently suspended adoptions of pit bulls from the city shelter,\u00a0 called Little Rock Animal Village.<\/p>\n (Beth Clifton collage)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Little Rock City Board director Joan Adcock on March 26,\u00a0 2025 indicated to Maya Ellison of THV11.com a day earlier that the victim might have been a person.<\/p>\n Said Adcock,\u00a0 \u201cThere was a case where a pit bull had bit someone a year and a half after it had been adopted. It was adopted from the Animal Village.\u201d<\/p>\n But a prepared statement issued by Little Rock City director of communications Aaron Sadler specified that,\u00a0 “Earlier this month, \u00a0a Pulaski County jury found the City of Little Rock liable for damages related to an incident involving a pit bull that injured another dog.<\/p>\n \u201cThat pit bull had been adopted from the Little Rock Animal Village about 16 months prior to this incident.<\/p>\n Merritt & Beth Clifton with Henry the rooster<\/strong><\/em>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cThe City of Little Rock will appeal that verdict,\u201d\u00a0 the statement said.\u00a0 \u201cIn the meantime, the City is undergoing a review of all its policies regarding adoptions from Little Rock Animal Village of potentially dangerous breeds. \u00a0During this temporary period, \u00a0no potentially dangerous breeds will be adoptable.\u201d<\/p>\n The post \u201cArkansas House passed pro cockfighting bill,” & it was not an April Fool<\/a> appeared first on Animals 24-7<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" (Beth Clifton collage) Bill basically would legalize cockfighting unless cockers were caught charging admission LITTLE ROCK, \u00a0Arkansas\u2013\u2013 \u201cThe Arkansas House passed the pro cockfighting bill,\u00a0 with an alarming 69 out of 100 state representatives voting for HB1611,\u201d\u00a0 Animal Wellness Action state representative Desiree Bender posted to social media late on March 31,\u00a0 2025,\u00a0 \u201cpotentially making […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":167313,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12022],"tags":[9093,4759,25413,6795,32628,43750,594,24280,1190],"dealstore":[],"offerexpiration":[],"class_list":["post-167312","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-activist","tag-amp","tag-april","tag-arkansas","tag-bill","tag-cockfighting","tag-fool","tag-house","tag-passed","tag-pro"],"yoast_head":"\nBill basically would legalize cockfighting unless cockers were caught charging admission<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nLegal cover for fighting cock breeders<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n“Paves a legal path for cockfighters”<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nNo state has more to lose from H5N1<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nHalf a million dead birds<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n“U.S. Gamefowl Commission has inserted itself”<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nWho are the pushers?<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n“Schooling cockfighters on how to deceive legislators”<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n
(SPCA of Texas photo)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\nBig bust in Hunt County,\u00a0 Texas<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n
(SPCA of Texas photo)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\nThree cockfights exposed in three weeks<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nRoosters,\u00a0 alive & dead<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nMaking Arkansas safe for pit bull breeders,\u00a0 too<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nLittle Rock suspends pit bull adoptions<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nPlease donate to support our work:<\/strong><\/h2>\n
www.animals24-7.org\/donate\/<\/a><\/strong><\/h2>\n