Cockfighting ring busts in Texas: Animal advocacy group speaks out

AUSTIN, Texas - An animal advocacy group is speaking out following recent cockfighting busts in Texas. It’s illegal in the United States, but it’s still happening in Texas and around the country.

"This is cruelty as entertainment," said Wayne Pacelle, of Animal Wellness Action.

Pacelle described the blood sport of cockfight as, "Animals are placed in a pit from which they cannot escape. They're equipped with knives or curved ice picks called gaps, on their legs, and they are fought until one of the animals cannot continue. That typically means they've suffered a lethal wound."

A couple of weeks ago, Harris County deputies found several injured and dead animals on a property in Northeast Houston following reports of people gathering for a cockfight event. Harris County deputies said when they arrived, people took off. The property owner was arrested and charged with cockfighting as he let others use his property for the event. Others were released with citations. Officials seized more than 100 roosters from that property.

"This is something that’s not tolerated in America," Harris County Constable Precinct 1 Alan Rosen said.

MORE: Cockfighting ring: Dozens of roosters seized in Caldwell County

Just a few days later, in Caldwell County, sheriff’s deputies took 35 roosters from a property believed to be used for a large cockfighting ring. Nine people were detained, and 20 vehicles and a trailer were towed. Officials said the investigation is still ongoing.

"Animals don’t have a voice, y’all have heard me say it a bunch, and we need to be their voice," Rosen said.

Animal Wellness Action said they’re working to pass the Fight Act in congress.

"This will create new enforcement tools that the federal government cooperating with the states can use to crack down on these illegal animal fighting rings throughout Texas and throughout the rest of the country," Pacelle said.

Cockfighting is a felony in Texas. It is punishable by up to two years in prison and up to a $10,000 fine. Pacelle said cockfighting is almost always associated with other criminal activities.

"Illegal gambling, because that's one of the big purposes of staged animal fighting, is to gamble on the combat between the animals, but there's also money laundering, narcotics trafficking, outbursts of violence," Pacelle said.

He said it needs to be stopped.

"If you see an animal that’s not being medically cared for, doesn’t have shelter, does not have food and water, or medically something is wrong with them, call us," Rosen said.