The recent seizure of almost 140 animals at a rural Kaufman County property is a disheartening reminder that Texas still has a significant problem with animal bloodsports.
Evidence gathered at the scene in December suggested a large dog and cockfighting operation. In addition to the poorly kept 93 roosters and hens and 44 adult dogs and puppies, authorities found grisly fighting paraphernalia. That included several blood-covered treadmills, medications likely used to make the animals more aggressive, break sticks used to pry open dogs’ jaws, and slashers and gaffs, the sharp blades tied to roosters’ legs to inflict more lethal injuries during fights.
Sadly, these types of discoveries are all too common, even though dog and cockfighting has been illegal in Texas for years. It’s time federal and state legislators pass bills that would make it more difficult to sidestep existing laws and strengthen criminal penalties for engaging in these barbaric pastimes.
Dog and cockfighting, or causing any other animal to fight, usually to the death, for the enjoyment of watching bloodletting is a blight on our state. These aren’t cultural pastimes or people exercising their freedom to do with what they want with their property — common defenses. It’s animal cruelty, pure and simple.
What’s more, law enforcement professionals have long associated animal bloodsports with a host of other crimes, such as drug dealing, illegal weapons sales and even human trafficking. In Texas, especially, it’s also closely associated with the Mexican drug cartels. Consider that the notorious Sinaloa cartel boss “El Chabelo” was reportedly gunned down last month by Mexican police after he allegedly opened fire at a cockfight in Manzanillo.
Dog and cockfighting operations are regularly discovered all over the state and Dallas is no exception. At a briefing earlier this month of the Dallas City Council’s public safety committee, police reported that they confiscated nearly 3,200 birds in 2023, with most of those connected to a large cockfighting ring broken up in southeast Dallas. Mayor Pro Tem Tennell Atkins thanked police for that crackdown in his district, but said residents are still complaining that the problem persists.
The federal FIGHT Act has the backing of the National Sheriffs’ Association and the National District Attorneys Association. It would ban online gambling on animal fights and outlaw the pervasive problem of shipment of fighting roosters through the mail, among other measures. It should become law.
Closer to home, State Rep. Rafael Anchia, D-Dallas, working closely with Dallas County District Attorney John Creuzot, recently filed House Bill 1795. The law would make most animal fighting-related offenses felonies, toughening existing dogfighting laws and punishing cockfighting at the same level.
“For a long time, these cases weren’t prosecuted in Dallas County so the offenders got complacent, bold, and made no efforts to hide their bird yards,” Creuzot told us in an email.
That is changing, thank goodness. Now police and prosecutors need these additional measures to punish those who would get sick enjoyment by watching animals suffer.
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