Cockfighting Ban in New Mexico Holds, but Cruel Tradition Lives On

Again, thank you to New Mexico for passing this law. It has done much to end this cruel tradition. I post this article to remind people though that the tradition still lives on. With time, we can hope that cultural views change.

Article:

A Ban on Cockfighting, but Tradition Lives On

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/06/us/06fight.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

Bruce Berman for The New York Times

A New Mexico state law passed last year made it illegal to conduct cockfights. The birds are maintained in case the law is overruled.

By ADAM B. ELLICK

Published: July 6, 2008

CHAPARRAL, N.M. — After two weeks of preparation, 150 officers, backed up by a helicopter, slipped into this sleepy desert town. Their focus was not illegal immigration or drug smuggling, but a less pressing crime: cockfighting.
But when they raided what was billed as the Christmas Cockfighting Derby in December expecting to find 300 cockfighters, they found fewer than a dozen people. The cockfighters had been tipped off, the police said, and the officers issued tickets for four misdemeanors before seizing 12 shrieking roosters.

Last year, New Mexico became the 49th state to make cockfighting illegal. (Louisiana will become the last state when a ban there takes effect in August.) The state has devoted vast resources to ending the sport, but with only one misdemeanor conviction thus far, it continues unabated in hidden venues, cockfighters and law enforcement officials say.

And light penalties — a first offense is a petty misdemeanor — have not only failed to stop the fights, they continue to attract cockfighters from four of New Mexico’s five neighboring states, where the sport is a felony.

“It seems they’re always one step ahead of us,” said Robyn Gojkovich, who in May became the state’s first full-time animal control investigator.

Ed Lowry, 51, a paunchy rooster breeder from Chaparral, agreed.

“They ain’t shut nothing down,” said Mr. Lowry, who has not been charged, even though his truck and computers were seized in the December raid.

Mr. Lowry, who still possesses his prized bloodlines, said he constantly turns down invitations to fight. As a director of the New Mexico Gamefowl Association, a nonprofit cockfighting advocacy group, he has taken up fighting in the courts, where appeals claiming tribal, religious and cultural sovereignty have failed to win exemptions from the ban.

“A gamecock shows me what an American should be like,” he said. “You defend to the death.”

To avoid the police, law enforcement officers say, promoters have relocated the fights from large arenas to clandestine sites on sprawling properties. Lookouts are stationed atop dusty mesas, and speakers, which in the past blared mariachi music, now carry feeds from police scanners.

But law enforcement officials are not giving up. They insist their aggressive operations — the raids, the full-time investigator, a special cockfighting task force — are sending a message in a war of attrition.

Nationally, though, it appears that animal rights advocates are winning that war, and they have been helped by a high-profile case. The conviction of the football star Michael Vick in a dogfighting operation in 2007 has pushed animal cruelty cases to the fore.

Circulation of the country’s largest trade magazine for cockfighting, The Gamecock, has fallen to 8,000 from about 14,000 over the last decade as states strengthened penalties for animal cruelty. And the wider cockfighting community, once an $80 million industry in the state, is suffering. In New Mexico, profits at feed stores and hotels in cockfighting strongholds are down as much as 70 percent, owners said.

Some police officers in this state say the pressure for stepped-up enforcement from the animal rights lobby has become so intense that resources are being diverted from more serious crimes, like drunken driving and amphetamine abuse.

For years the state’s governor, Bill Richardson, a Democrat, avoided the issue. In 2006, Jay Leno ridiculed him on the “Tonight Show,” for saying there were strong arguments on both sides of the issue. At that time, the sport was already a felony in 33 states. But in March 2007, Mr. Richardson signed the measure outlawing the sport. He was widely criticized as only getting behind the legislation because he was then running for president.

“You can’t go on the national stage and have people find out you have no problem with a bloody sport,” said Sheriff Darren White of Bernalillo County, where officers issued citations for two cockfighting misdemeanors in a raid on June 21.

Mr. Richardson’s office said he would not be available to discuss the issue.

Sheriff White, a Republican who is running for Congress, said the ban has transformed public opinion on animal cruelty issues. Animal rights advocates agree.

“New Mexico is on the verge of having a modern culture,” said Heather Ferguson, the legislative director for Animal Protection of New Mexico, an animal-rights lobbying group. Ms. Ferguson said a newly established animal cruelty hot line was receiving about 90 calls every two weeks.

As public support rises, so do costs. The Chaparral raid cost the four counties involved more than $25,000, officials said. And several high-ranking police officers, who asked not to be identified because they are not authorized to talk to reporters, said that while they oppose cockfighting they are frustrated at how politicians are disproportionately emphasizing the crime.
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Bruce Berman for The New York Times

Doors in a restaurant in southern New Mexico with a design of fighting birds. Such fights were once common in the area.
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Bruce Berman for The New York Times

Ed Lowry and “The Old Man,” which he says was a 10-time winner.

“We don’t even investigate misdemeanors on other crimes,” one officer said. “We laugh at these investigations.” Of one cockfighting raid he said: “We wasted $10,000 on a recent misdemeanor. I’d rather use that for a D.U.I. checkpoint and take 20 people off the road in the three hours and save lives over chickens. I feel good when we save chickens, but whoop-de-do, a misdemeanor?”

Others defended the raids, citing ties between cockfighting and other criminal enterprises, like illegal gambling.

“You aren’t going to take down a cockfighting ring with two or three people,” Sheriff White said. “This is not a friendly card game. There’s a lot more going on.”

Ms. Ferguson said she would like to see even more legal action on the issue. She is seeking $200,000 in additional state money to finance positions like a full-time prosecutor for animal cruelty cases. In addition, she is working to make cockfighting a felony in New Mexico. Over the next year, Animal Protection of New Mexico will lobby for about $1.1 million for three new animal custody facilities that would be completed by 2010.

For 16 years, Richard and Louisa Lopez operated a 310-seat cockfighting arena at their farm in Luis Lopez, N.M. The $30,000 they earned annually from the operation helped subsidize their farm expenses, and send their children to college. Last month, they used the arena for their family reunion and a baby shower.

“We don’t have money to buy diesel sometimes,” Mr. Lopez said. “And this is the place that kept my farm going.”

In January, the courts dismissed a suit by the New Mexico Gamefowl Association claiming economic devastation. Ms. Gojkovich, the animal control investigator, was hardly sympathetic.

“You need to go find a job at Wal-Mart,” she said.

Nation's Largest Cockfighting Bust in Arkansas Leads to Pleas

Good news. We’ll hope this ripples.

Article:

Animals Celebrate as Pleas Are Entered in Nation's Largest Cockfighting Bust

http://www.marketwire.com/mw/release.do?id=807205

Last Chance for Animals to Observe Proceedings

VAN BUREN, AR--(Marketwire - January 4, 2008) - On Monday, January 7th, in connection with the nation's largest cockfighting bust, thirty-nine people will appear in Crawford County Circuit Court to enter pleas. Judge Gary Cottrell ordered the mandatory appearance of the cockfighters. Last Chance for Animals, responsible for undercover investigation leading to bust, will also be in court, to observe the pleas of the cockfighters.

Last May, with information provided by Last Chance for Animals' Special Investigations Unit, county law enforcement officials, along with Arkansas State Police and FBI agents raided a crowded and popular cockfighting arena, operating on Shiloh Road near Cedarville. The raid resulted in 127 arrests, with both federal and misdemeanor charges. Those not represented on Monday have appeared before Crawford County Court or in Van Buren District Court.

"I will be in court on Monday to look these degenerate cockfighters square in the eye. They have been getting away with horrific acts of animal cruelty for far too long. Last Chance for Animals speaks on behalf of all the animals that have been abused and killed; we must take a tough stance against animal cruelty. Dog fighting has garnered much attention this past year, let's make sure we don't forget about the scum that cockfights," stated Chris DeRose, President and Founder, Last Chance for Animals.

The raid came after several months of surveillance, which included infiltration of the group by undercover officers. All of those in court face unclassified felony charges of keeping a gambling house and misdemeanor charges of cruelty to animals. Twenty of the group faces additional charges of criminal use of property or laundering criminal proceeds and 21 face added charges of engaging in a continuing criminal or gang organization or enterprise.


Where: Crawford County Circuit Court -- Division I
300 Main Street
Van Buren, AR 72956

When: 8:30 AM, Monday, January 7th
Scheduled Time for Cockfighters to Arrive in Court

Who: Chris DeRose, President and Founder, Last Chance for Animals
Last Chance for Animals (LCA), a national non-profit animal rights organization based in Los Angeles, has been active for almost 25 years. Founded and led by animal expert, author and actor, Chris DeRose. LCA fights for the rights of animals by conducting investigations that expose animal cruelty. Visit www.LCAnimal.org.

Contact: For media interviews with Chris DeRose, call Eileen Koch & Company at 310-441-1000 . For all other information, contact Lisa Beal, LCA Campaigns Director, (818) 681-3672 , lisa@lcanimal.org

Louisiana Puts Forth Bill that Will Ban Cockfighting: If Governor Signs it, Louisiana will be Last State in United States to Ban Cockfighting

Wow. I never thought I’d see the day. Let’s hope that Blanco signs it. It’s been a long hard road for those against animal cruelty.

For more on why cockfighting is wrong, see -
http://www.hsus.org/hsus_field/
animal_fighting_the_final_round/cockfighting_fact_sheet

Article:

Louisiana to be last state to ban cockfighting

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/
nation/la-na-cockfight28jun28,1,5067323.story?coll=la-headlines-nation

By Russell McCulley

NEW ORLEANS (Reuters) - Louisiana will become the last U.S. state to outlaw cockfighting under a bill approved by the state legislature on Wednesday.

The ban, which will take effect in August 2008, follows a measure in New Mexico that outlawed cockfighting earlier this year.

Animal anti-cruelty groups in Louisiana have long sought a ban on the bloody sport, in which trained roosters battle, often to death.

But proponents of cockfighting managed to forestall a ban for years, defending the practice as an integral part of rural Louisiana culture.

Animal advocates hailed the vote as a triumph for Louisiana, much of which is still reeling from the devastation of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005.

"The whole country has been focused on Louisiana due to our massive rebuilding and recovery efforts, and no one wanted to see Louisiana blemished with the stigma of being the only state that still allowed such a brutal and inhumane practice," Laura Maloney, executive director of the Louisiana Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, said in a written statement.

Much of the debate over the bill in this year's legislative session centered on whether to ban cockfighting immediately, which animal rights groups favored, or to allow a one-year delay to give those in the business time to sell their animals and equipment.

The impasse nearly scuttled the ban, which has widespread public support in Louisiana. Lawmakers agreed to the one-year reprieve by a vote of 91-1 in the state House and unanimously in the Senate.

Legislators also approved a ban on gambling at cockfights that will take effect this summer, a move that could effectively end the sport much sooner than the 2008.

Gov. Kathleen Blanco is expected to sign both bills in coming days.

House Committee in Louisiana Recommends Making Cockfighting Illegal in 2008

Well, a little late, but better then than never. We’ll see.

Article:

La. House panel OKs ban on cockfighting in 2008


http://www.leesvilledailyleader.com/articles/2007/
05/04/news/news6.txt


By DOUG SIMPSON | Associated Press
May 3, 2007

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) _ Louisiana, the last state where cockfighting is legal, should ban the practice _ but not until 2008, a state House committee has decided.

New Mexico banned cockfighting earlier this year, increasing pressure on Louisiana lawmakers to do the same after years of resistance. Members of the House Agriculture Committee tried and failed to agree on a bill last year, but on Thursday unanimously approved a compromise measure to criminalize staged rooster fights beginning in December 2008.

"We shouldn't be the last state," said Rep. Harold Ritchie, D-Bogalusa, a sponsor. "We should have beat New Mexico last year."

The panel's main point of dispute was whether to ban cockfighting this year or give people involved in the industry time to sell their roosters and find new careers. Rep. Jack Smith argued it would be unfair to immediately impose a ban and make cockfighters criminals.

"I want to be humane not only to the chickens, but to the people who own the chickens," said Smith, D-Franklin.
EnvironmentalDefense.org

Animal rights advocates opposed delaying the ban, arguing that cockfighting is animal abuse that should be criminalized immediately.

Michael Markarian, an executive vice president with the Humane Society of the United States, said people who raise the roosters and stage the fights have had warning that cockfighting is on its last legs.

"There has been plenty of advanced notice," he said.

Cockfighting enthusiasts said they need more time. Richard Apshire, owner of a cockfighting arena in Calcasieu Parish, said he has 50 employees who will need to find new jobs.

Animal rights groups also said penalties for those convicted of staging cockfights should be tougher. The measure makes cockfighting a misdemeanor with penalties of up to six months in prison and $1,000 in fines.

Cockfighting is a felony in 33 states, according to the U.S. Humane Society, which argued for tougher penalties in Louisiana.

The measure, by Ritchie and Rep. Mike Strain, R-Covington, goes to the full House for debate. House Speaker Joe Salter, D-Florien, and Gov. Kathleen Blanco have said they'll support some form of cockfighting ban.

A competing bill that would ban cockfighting this year is awaiting debate in a Senate committee. That measure, by Sen. Art Lentini, has the support of animal rights groups.

H.R. 137 – Bill to Limit Transport and Sale of Animals For the Purpose of Dog Fighting and Cockfighting Heads to Bush: Will He Sign It?

My guess is that because the bill is just a watered down step to end cockfighting and dog fighting that he will sign it. Don’t get me wrong, I am all for ANY bill that leads to the ending of cockfighting and dog fighting. But, this is a very early and limited step. Limiting transport and selling is great, but going for a full ban on fighting would seal the deal to end this unnecessary cruelty.

As stated below, “The bill, sponsored in the House by Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., calls for penalties of up to three years in prison for anyone who knowingly buys, sells or transports animals for the purpose of fighting. It also would make it a felony to knowingly sponsor or exhibit an animal fight.”

Louisiana is now the only state that allows cockfighting. New Mexico ended its legal sanction of the blood sport recently by making cockfighting illegal by law. You can read about that here - http://geari.blogspot.com/2007/03/
victory-measure-is-passed-that-outlaws.html

Will Louisiana be next?

For more on why cockfighting is wrong, see -
http://www.hsus.org/hsus_field/
animal_fighting_the_final_round/
cockfighting_fact_sheet




Article:

Congress sends President Bush anti-animal fighting bill

http://www.ksby.com/Global/story.asp?S=6358891

Apr 11, 1:46 PM EDT

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Congress has passed legislation cracking down on animal fighting, sending President Bush a measure that would make it a felony to transport an animal across state lines for fighting.

Approval of the bill marked the culmination of a nearly six-year effort to limit dogfighting and cockfighting, centuries-old traditions that most lawmakers and animal rights advocates now label brutal.

The Senate passed the measure by voice vote Tuesday night, following House passage by a lopsided margin on March 26, clearing it for Bush's signature.

"We've waited six years to see this legislation signed into law," said Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., the bill's chief Senate sponsor. "Our nation should have a zero tolerance policy for this cruelty, and I hope the president will sign this bill immediately."

The bill, sponsored in the House by Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., calls for penalties of up to three years in prison for anyone who knowingly buys, sells or transports animals for the purpose of fighting. It also would make it a felony to knowingly sponsor or exhibit an animal fight.

"Animal fighting is cruel," said Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., the Judiciary Committee chairman. "Those engaged in animal fighting ventures must know that this crime is serious and will be punished as a felony."

Critics say animal fighting - popular in rural areas and Latin American communities - can also spawn other criminal activity, such as illegal gambling, narcotics trafficking, public corruption, and gang activity.

Wayne Pacelle, president and CEO of the Humane Society of the United States, called the measure "a powerful law that will go a long way toward eradicating these sickening forms of animal cruelty."

The measure also outlaws commerce in cockfighting weapons - knifelike instruments that are attached to roosters' legs during fights. Transporting animals across state lines for fighting would be boosted from a misdemeanor to a felony.

Dogfighting is illegal in every state, and New Mexico last month became the 49th state to ban cockfighting, making Louisiana the only state where it's legal.

---

On the Net:

Information on the bill, H.R. 137, can be found at http://thomas.loc.gov/

With New Mexico Recently Making Cockfighting Illegal, Many Now Asking When Louisiana (the last state where it’s legal) Will Also Make it Illegal

I’m not really impressed by this article, but it gives me a chance to once again remind people that Louisiana is now the only state that allows cockfighting. New Mexico ended its legal sanction of the blood sport recently by making cockfighting illegal by law. You can read about that here - http://geari.blogspot.com/2007/03/victory-
measure-is-passed-that-outlaws.html

Will Louisiana be next?

For more on why cockfighting is wrong, see -
http://www.hsus.org/hsus_field/animal_fighting_
the_final_round/cockfighting_fact_sheet



Article:

Cockfighting in Louisiana may be banned

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070409/
ap_on_re_us/louisiana_cockfighting_2

By DOUG SIMPSON, Associated Press Writer Mon Apr 9, 7:21 PM ET

BREAUX BRIDGE, La. - Spectators shake their fists, scream out wagers and cheer on their roosters, the air swirling with cigarette smoke and chicken feathers.

Saturday night in Breaux Bridge means rooster fights at the Atchafalaya Game Club, one of dozens of cockfighting venues in Louisiana — soon to be the last state where the practice is legal. Fans from around the country pay $10 and settle into padded seats overlooking the pit, where two roosters peck and claw each other, often to the death.

"I still go to the rooster fights on a regular basis because it's something I enjoy," said Billy Duplechein, 37, of St. Martinville. "And I'm trying to get my sons involved. It keeps our kids out of trouble."

But this Louisiana tradition — long decried by animal rights activists as cruel and barbaric — may be coming to an end.

Worried about the state's long-standing image as a corrupt backwater at a time when hurricane-stricken New Orleans desperately needs money from Capitol Hill, Gov. Kathleen Blanco and other politicians want cockfighting banned.

That is an unpopular idea at the Atchafalaya club, where enthusiasts consider it harmless fun. They say Louisiana has plenty of other problems to solve, including the stagnant recovery from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

"I just don't see how it's going to help the state to get rid of cockfighting," said Dale Barras, owner of the Atchafalaya club.

The Atchafalaya Game Club — home to the Christmas Derby, the Mardi Gras Cup and other cockfighting tournaments — is an unmarked warehouse in Breaux Bridge, a small Cajun town about 120 miles west of New Orleans.

Hundreds came to the fights on a recent Saturday night, and they were not unlike the typical high school football crowd: teenagers on dates, kids with their parents. They ate burgers and chili dogs and drank sodas and beer.

"We don't make no one come to the fights," Barras said. "And we don't make the chickens fight," he added, echoing the cockfighters' oft-repeated argument that roosters battle instinctively.

The birds are fitted with sharp metal blades or curved spikes on their legs, and tear into each other. Blood soaks the animals' feathers and their handlers' clothing. A match can end in minutes or an hour, when one bird is dead or refuses to fight.

Men tidy up the pit between fights, like groundskeepers on a baseball diamond. One dampens the dirt with a watering can, another rakes up feathers. Gamblers settle their bets, and another fight begins. By the end of the night, a trash can in a back room is full of dead roosters — the losers.

"The bottom line is, we have standards in society on how animals should be treated, and this activity violates those standards," said Wayne Pacelle, head of the Humane Society of the United States. "It's just not morally sensible to stage fights between animals for the purpose of gambling and entertainment."

That argument succeeded in Oklahoma, where voters approved a ban in 2002. A cockfighting ban takes effect in June in New Mexico, the only other state where the blood sport is legal. Gov. Bill Richardson signed the ban earlier this year, with some residents speculating that the Democratic candidate for president turned against the sport for fear of looking as if he comes from a backward state.

In Louisiana, pro-cockfighting politicians have blocked the animal rights movement for years. Some lawmakers say it should be a local matter: Towns and parishes can outlaw cockfighting if they choose.

State Sen. Donald Cravins Jr. said he will oppose a ban. "In my district, cockfighting has been a part of life forever," said Cravins, a Democrat whose largely Cajun area has several pits.

While cockfighting itself is legal in Louisiana, running a cockfighting operation that makes money off gambling is not. And in a measure of how political opinion has turned against the sport, state police have begun raiding cockfighting pits.

A husband and wife were arrested last month. That same night elsewhere in Louisiana, a Texas man was arrested on similar charges.

The governor and House speaker once tacitly approved of cockfighting but have come out against it more recently.

Because of the hurricanes, Louisiana relies on money from Washington to rebuild New Orleans and other areas. State leaders say they believe Congress will not want to send billions to a state where bloody animal fights are legal.

"It's not a positive perception about out state," House Speaker Joe Salter said.

On Capitol Hill, some lawmakers are trying to toughen the penalties for transporting fighting cocks across state lines.

Barras and others said the state should keep cockfighting legal but make money off it by licensing the owners of fighting roosters, or by taking a cut of the winnings in tournaments like the Christmas Derby.

Victory! Measure is Passed That Outlaws Cockfighting in New Mexico: Louisiana Now Only State Which Allows Cockfighting

One more down and one more to go. This was an incredible move and will hopefully lead to the end of cockfighting in the US. This has literally taken 18 years but gives hope to ending it in Louisiana as well. Luckily, Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco has stated that she will support making cockfighting illegal.

For more on why cockfighting is wrong, see -
http://www.hsus.org/hsus_field/animal_fighting_
the_final_round/cockfighting_fact_sheet


Article:

Cockfighting Ban Approved in New Mexico

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=
/n/a/2007/03/12/national/a143219D98.DTL

By TIM KORTE, Associated Press Writer

Monday, March 12, 2007

(03-12) 17:11 PDT Albuquerque, N.M. (AP) --

Gov. Bill Richardson signed a measure Monday that outlaws cockfighting in New Mexico, leaving Louisiana as the only state where the centuries-old bloodsport remains legal.

State Sen. Mary Jane Garcia, who has introduced legislation to ban cockfighting over the past 18 years, thanked Richardson, who until this legislative session had declined to take a stance on the issue. The prohibition takes effect June 15.

"Today, New Mexico joins 48 other states in affirming that the deliberate killing of animals for entertainment and profit is no longer acceptable," said Garcia, D-Dona Ana.

Richardson signed the bill at a ceremony at the state Capitol in Santa Fe.

Cockfighting fans have accused Richardson of taking a sudden interest in cockfighting now that he is seeking the Democratic nomination for president. They also defend cockfighting as a family activity and said opponents were meddling.

"I'm so upset that it's damn near ruining my life," said Ronald Barron, president of the New Mexico Game Fowl Association. "I've got 38 years doing this. I don't know if I should hatch off some baby chicks right now. This isn't a business. It's my pleasure. It's my right, or rather it was my right."

Barron said the association planned a legal challenge.

During a cockfight, two roosters fitted with blades or gaffs on their legs are placed into a pit and fight until one is dead or badly wounded. Although gambling on the fights is illegal, spectators openly wager on the outcome.

Wayne Pacelle, president of the Humane Society of the United States, called the law's passage "a major moment in the effort to rid our nation of this barbaric and reprehensible practice."

"New Mexico removed an ugly blemish today, and it is a proud moment for the state," Pacelle said.

Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco, who took no position on a cockfighting ban last year, said Monday she now supports making the practice illegal.

"I support banning cockfighting," Blanco said in a one-sentence e-mail from her press office.

In 2006 a state senator's bill to criminalize rooster fights failed in Louisiana Legislature.

Amazon.Com Continues To Sell Magazines That Glorify and Incite Cockfighting: Will They Stop?

This is just too bad for Amazon. I just ordered stuff from them too, but no more. Seems they have no problem egging on and supporting the brutal sport of cockfighting. Below you will find out more information about this issue. Also visit www.hsus.org/amazon for a video about the Amazon.com cockfighting issue.

Article:

Amazon has no business selling Feathered Warrior

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/
archive/2007/02/26/EDGBDOA3ES1.DTL

Wayne Pacelle

Monday, February 26, 2007

Opinion


The First Amendment protects speech. It does not protect criminal conduct. So you have to wonder why on earth Amazon.com, the retail giant, insists on trafficking in criminal materials in the name of free speech.

Amazon executives and the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) have been at odds lately over the company's sale of materials that incite cockfighting -- a crime in all states but two, and in many a felony. The Feathered Warrior and the Gamecock may not be on your reading list, but for thousands of lawbreakers, they are a must-read. In fact, these journals of the blood sport are often among the top 500 sellers in the magazine category at Amazon.com -- which is believed to be the only online retail seller that will have anything to do with them.

At last count, Amazon was selling 27 books, monographs and magazines about cockfighting. If your passion in life is watching two tormented birds tear each other to pieces, in a bloody pit surrounded by shouting gamblers, Amazon is the place to go.

Two of these publications, in particular, should have set off alarm bells in the Amazon legal department, because from cover to cover they are filled with specific criminal solicitations. In the past year, Feathered Warrior and Gamecock have carried no fewer than 1,600 pages of ads soliciting specific illegal acts, mainly the purchase and sale of fighting birds. The latest edition of Gamecock even advertised the sale of an illegal cockfighting arena in rural Kentucky -- where HSUS investigators went undercover at the Saturday night cockfights and found a mob of hundreds staging fights between animals.

As usual in these spectacles, razors were attached to the birds' legs to maximize the bloodletting, the roosters were drugged to heighten their aggression and bets ran in the thousands of dollars. The Animal Welfare Act makes it a federal crime to sell fighting birds across state lines or to ship them out of the country, or to ship materials that promote animal fighting -- but you'd never know that by perusing these offerings at Amazon.

The company's lawyers have strained to find refuge in the First Amendment. But their argument that free speech is protected and that the retailer should not be selecting what consumers should read confuses the expression of an opinion with the solicitation of a crime -- a point easily settled by comparing Amazon's policies on cockfighting and on narcotics trafficking. Amazon sells High Times, a magazine that argues for the legalization of drugs. In its pages, you will find plenty of editorial comment about the legalization of narcotics. All of that is protected speech, as would be a journal advocating legalization of cockfighting, and no one would quarrel with the sale of such magazines.

What you will not find in High Times, however, or in any other publication available at Amazon.com, are mail-order advertisements for the sale of narcotics. You won't find a methamphetamine lab for sale, either. None of these items is advertised in materials available on Amazon, nor are obscene materials, or solicitations from child pornographers to be found on the site. Of course not: They are crimes, and Amazon is not in the business of abetting them.

Indeed, this is a company that prides itself on going even further than minimal legal requirements, and claims the right to unilaterally remove any item it sells without explanation -- a right it has exercised by declining, for example, to sell sexually explicit materials even if they might qualify as protected speech.

So why, in the case of animal cruelty, has Amazon suddenly decided that anything goes, and one man's criminal solicitation is another man's "protected speech"? Since when does any company get to decide for itself which crimes are worth enforcing, and which laws it will take the trouble to respect?

The HSUS has provided Amazon with extensive evidence showing the cruelty, viciousness and corruption of the cockfighting trade. We have explained to company executives that cockfighting is not only a tawdry industry all by itself, but also a breeder of other crimes, social ills and forms of violence. We have reminded them that across America police are trying to crack down on illegal cockfighting -- and it hardly helps law-enforcement agencies when Amazon serves as a national courier for the cockfighting subculture.

So far, all of these appeals to corporate responsibility have come to nothing. Cock fighters do not have many apologists left in America. Yet somehow Amazon has found itself to be their champion.

HSUS has filed suit against the magazine publishers and Amazon in District of Columbia Superior Court and filed a legal petition with the district attorney in King County, Wash., where Amazon has its corporate headquarters. It can still be resolved if Amazon's founder, Jeff Bezos, will step in and make it clear that his company will not violate federal animal cruelty laws. He has built an otherwise fine company, and now its good name is at risk. Bezos was once named "Man of the Year" by Time magazine. He might want to act quickly, before he earns the same honor from Feathered Warrior.

Wayne Pacelle is president and CEO of the Humane Society of the United States. For a video about the Amazon issue, go to www.hsus.org/amazon