Editing Cockfighting (section)

=== United States ===
[[File:PR Cockfight.jpg|thumb|right|Cockfighting club in [[Puerto Rico]], 1937]]

{{As of|2023}}, cockfighting is illegal in all 50 [[U.S. state]]s, the [[Washington, D.C.|District of Columbia]], and all U.S. territories. The last state to implement a [[State law (United States)|state law]] banning cockfighting was [[Louisiana]]; the [[Louisiana State Legislature]] voted to approve a ban in June 2007,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.wafb.com/Global/story.asp?S=6493974 |title=Louisiana State House passes Cockfighting ban |publisher=Wafb.com |date=2014-02-04 |access-date=2014-02-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090525171023/http://www.wafb.com/Global/story.asp?S=6493974 |archive-date=2009-05-25 |url-status=dead }}</ref> which went into effect in August 2008.<ref>[http://www.azcentral.com/lavoz/spanish/us/articles/us_123936.html Legisladores de Luisiana aprueban prohibición a pelea de gallos] June 27, 2007 [[La Voz (Phoenix)|La Voz]] {{in lang|es}}</ref>

As of 2013:
*Cockfighting is a [[felony]] in 40 states and the District of Columbia.<ref name="2013Chart">[http://www.humanesociety.org/assets/pdfs/animal_fighting/cockfighting_chart_2013.pdf Fact Sheet: Cockfighting: State Laws] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160325010659/http://www.humanesociety.org/assets/pdfs/animal_fighting/cockfighting_chart_2013.pdf |date=2016-03-25 }}, Humane Society of the United States (updated April 2013).</ref> 
*The possession of birds for fighting is prohibited in 39 states and the District of Columbia.<ref name="2013Chart"/>
*Being a spectator at a cockfight is prohibited in 43 states and the District of Columbia.<ref name="2013Chart"/>
*The possession of cockfighting implements is prohibited in 15 states.<ref name="2013Chart"/>

Additionally, the [[Agricultural Act of 2014|2014 farm bill]], signed into law by President [[Barack Obama]], contained a provision making it a federal crime to attend an animal fighting event or bring a child under the age of 16 to an animal fighting event.<ref>{{cite web|author=Humane Society Legislative Fund |url=http://www.humanesociety.org/news/news_briefs/2014/02/farm_bill_passed_020414.html|title=Farm Bill Strengthens Animal Fighting Law, Maintains State Farm Animal Protection Laws|publisher=Humane Society of the United States|date=February 4, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141025151239/http://www.humanesociety.org/news/news_briefs/2014/02/farm_bill_passed_020414.html |archive-date=2014-10-25 }}</ref>

The cockfighting ban was further extended by federal law to include U.S. territories—American Samoa, the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands—effective at the end of 2019, as signed into law in the [[2018 United States farm bill|2018 farm bill]] by President [[Donald Trump]].<ref>"Public Law 115-334 – Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018", [https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/PLAW-115publ334 GOVinfo], 5 March 2021.</ref> In [[Puerto Rico]], cockfighting is popular and has been considered a "national sport" since at least the 1950s.<ref name="Trove 1953">{{cite news | title=Cock-fighting in Puerto Rico |newspaper=Townsville Daily Bulletin (Qld. : 1907–1954) | date=4 May 1953 | url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article62475942 | access-date=29 October 2019}}</ref> According to a [[National Park Service]] report, it generates about $100 million annually. There are some 200,000 fighting birds annually on the island. Puerto Rico's Cockfighting Commission regulates 87 clubs, but many non-government sanctioned "underground" cockfighting operations exist.<ref>Meredith Hoffman, [https://www.vice.com/en/article/cockfighting-is-puerto-ricos-most-resilient-industry/ Cockfighting is Puerto Rico's Most Resilient Industry], Vice (February 16, 2016).</ref> On December 18, 2019, estimating that cockfighting employs 27,000 people and has a value to the economy of about $18 million, Puerto Rico passed a law attempting to keep the practice legal despite the imminent federal ban.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/puerto-rico-defies-us-cockfighting-ban-court-battle-likely/ar-BBY9RpQ |title=Puerto Rico defies US cockfighting ban; court ban likely |first=Ray |last=Sanchez |website=[[CNN]] |date=December 19, 2019 |access-date=December 19, 2019}}</ref> In 2021, governor [[Pedro Pierluisi]] announced the government would support a legal effort before the [[Supreme Court of the United States|U.S. Supreme Court]] to overturn the ban.<ref>{{Cite web|last=|first=|title=Gobierno se une como amigo de la corte en el caso sobre las peleas de gallos|trans-title=Government will join as friend of the court in cockfighting case|url=https://www.elvocero.com/gobierno/fortaleza/gobierno-se-une-como-amigo-de-la-corte-en-el-caso-sobre-las-peleas-de/article_3bfe71be-e301-11eb-8e78-e3df1006a43f.html|url-status=live|access-date=2021-07-12|website=[[El Vocero]]|date=12 July 2021|language=es|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210712113149/https://www.elvocero.com/gobierno/fortaleza/gobierno-se-une-como-amigo-de-la-corte-en-el-caso-sobre-las-peleas-de/article_3bfe71be-e301-11eb-8e78-e3df1006a43f.html |archive-date=2021-07-12 }}</ref> The Supreme Court refused to hear the case, ''Ortiz-Diaz v. United States'', in October 2021, leaving the federal ban in place.<ref name="ap-21">{{cite news |title=Supreme Court leaves in place Puerto Rico cockfighting ban |url=https://apnews.com/article/us-supreme-court-congress-puerto-rico-1832c7fddefbf1ded3464cfc83af8b45 |access-date=25 August 2022 |work=Associated Press |date=October 12, 2021}}</ref>

The Animal Fighting Prohibition Enforcement Act, a [[federal law]] that made it a federal crime to transfer cockfighting implements across [[Commerce Clause|state or national borders]] and increasing the penalty for violations of federal animal fighting laws to three years in prison, became law in 2007. It passed the [[United States House of Representatives|House of Representatives]] 368–39 and the [[United States Senate|Senate]] by [[unanimous consent]] and was signed into law by President [[George W. Bush]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h110-137|title=H.R. 137: Animal Fighting Prohibition Enforcement Act of 2007|access-date=February 22, 2008|publisher=GovTrack.us}}</ref>

The [[Animal Welfare Act of 1966|Animal Welfare Act]] was amended again in 2008 when provisions were included in the [[2008 Farm Bill]] (P.L. 110–246). These provisions tightened prohibitions on dog and other animal fighting activities, and increased penalties for violations of the act.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nationalaglawcenter.org/assets/crs/RS22493.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=2012-10-04 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130426032912/http://www.nationalaglawcenter.org/assets/crs/RS22493.pdf |archive-date=2013-04-26 }} The Animal Welfare Act: Background and Selected Legislation by Tadlock Cowan – Analyst in Natural Resources and Rural Development – September 9, 2010</ref>

Major law enforcement raids against cockfighting occurred in February 2014 in [[New York (state)|New York State]] (when 3,000 birds were seized and nine men were charged with felony  [[animal-fighting]] in "Operation Angry Birds", the state's largest-ever cockfighting bust)<ref name="Antenucci-NY">{{cite news|last=Antenucci|first=Antonio|title=70 arrested in NY's largest cockfighting bust|url=https://nypost.com/2014/02/10/70-arrested-in-new-yorks-largest-ever-cockfighting-bust/|access-date=10 February 2014|newspaper=New York Post|date=10 February 2014}}</ref><ref name="Assefa-NY">{{cite news|last=Assefa|first=Haimy|date=10 February 2014|title=New York cockfighting bust uncovers 3,000 birds and yields 9 arrests|publisher=[[CNN]]|url=http://www.cnn.com/2014/02/09/justice/new-york-cockfighting-bust/|access-date=10 February 2014}}</ref><ref name="ABC News">{{cite news|title=NY AG: 3,000 Birds Rescued in Cockfighting Bust|url=https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/ny-ag-3000-birds-rescued-cockfighting-bust-22436902|access-date=10 February 2014|newspaper=ABC News|date=10 February 2014}}</ref> and in May 2017 in California (when the [[Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department]] seized 7,000 cockfighting birds at a ranch in [[Val Verde, California]], one of the largest cockfighting busts in U.S. history).<ref name="latimes7000birdsseizedinlargest">{{cite news|last1=Hamilton|first1=Matt|title=7,000 birds seized in largest cockfighting bust in U.S. history, L.A. County authorities say|url=http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-cockfighting-raid-20170516-story.html|access-date=May 17, 2017|work=[[Los Angeles Times]]|date=May 16, 2017}}</ref><ref name="nbclosangelescockfightonbustinlacounty">{{cite news|title=Cockfighting Bust in LA County Town Nets 7,000 Birds|url=http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/Cockfighting-Bust-in-Val-Verde-422603114.html|access-date=May 17, 2017|publisher=NBC Los Angeles|date=May 16, 2017}}</ref>