(Beth Clifton collage)

Pigeon shooter & advocate for horse slaughter nominated by Donald Trump to head Homeland Security

WASHINGTON D.C.––Pigeons don’t hold seats on Congressional committees.  Horses don’t either,  though some allege that horses’ rear ends do.

But it is safe to suggest that if either pigeons or horses,  both reputedly among the most intelligent of animals,  had any say in the matter,  the nomination by U.S. president Donald Trump of current U.S. Senator Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma to succeed former North Dakota governor Kristi Noem to head the U.S. Department of Homeland Security would not have been approved on March 19,  2026 by the U.S. Senate Homeland Security Committee.

Neither would black vultures have approved.  Mullin is an original co-sponsor of the so-called Black Vulture Relief Act of 2025,  which would remove black vultures from the protection of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918 to allow farmers to shoot the vultures without limit,  without a permit,  so long as they “submit an annual report to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service detailing the number of black vultures taken.”

Versions of the bill are currently before both the Senate Environment & Public Works Committee,  with 16 Senate co-sponsors,  and the House Natural Resources Committee,  with 26 House co-sponsors.

(Beth Clifton collage)

John Fetterman cast deciding vote

“Mullin won a committee vote to become the new Homeland Security secretary by a narrow 8-7 margin with a boost from Democratic Senator John Fetterman,”  of Pennsylvania,  recounted Dave Goldiner of the New York Daily News.

“The nomination of Mullin advanced to the full Senate after Fetterman broke ranks with the rest of his party to advance Mullin’s confirmation,”  Goldiner summarized.

The full U.S. Senate is expected to vote on Mullin’s nomination during the week beginning on March 23,  2026.

Steve Hindi & Stuart Chaifetz with pigeons rescued from pigeon shoot.  (SHARK photo)

Stu Chaifetz remembered Mullin

Political biographies omit mention of Markwayne Mullin’s history of participating in pigeon shoots and promoting horse slaughter,  but longtime New Jersey animal advocate Stu Chaifetz remembered Mullin from his several years as a former Showing Animals Respect & Kindness [SHARK] team member.

“We actually sent out a press release about him,”  Chaifetz reminded,  sharing four photographs of Mullin at a fundraising pigeon shoot hosted by Jim Inhofe,  former U.S. Senator from Oklahoma.

Mentioned the press release,  “An undercover SHARK investigator secretly recorded the pigeon shoot in Lone Wolf,  Oklahoma in which Senator Inhofe and a second member of Congress – Representative Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) – participated.  The video,  which exposed horrific acts of animal cruelty,  has gone viral.”

That prompted ANIMALS 24-7 to check our files,  quickly finding Mullin’s record on horse slaughter as well.

Jim Inhofe.  (Beth Clifton collage)

Shot pigeons with Jim Inhofe

What political biographies state is that Markwayne Mullin,  48,  is an enrolled member of the Cherokee Nation who won three events as a mixed martial arts cage fighter in 2006-2007,  before owning and selling a plumbing business,  which may have familiarized him with cesspools before he entered politics.

Mullin,  a Republican,  then served as Congressional Representative for the Oklahoma 2nd Congressional district from 2013 to 2023.  He left the House of Representatives after being elected in 2022 to succeed Jim Inhofe,  U.S. Senator from Oklahoma,  who had retired in mid-term reportedly due to health issues.

Inhofe had for years escaped penalties for alleged violations of U.S. and state legislation in connection with his annual bird-shooting fundraisers,  first exposed by Showing Animals Respect & Kindness [SHARK] in 2014.

Mullin was photographed at that Inhofe captive bird shoot,  and is believed to have participated in many others.

Markwayne Mullin at Inhofe pigeon shoot.  (SHARK photo.)

Garbage

“In 2014,  after receiving an anonymous tip,  a SHARK investigator traveled to Oklahoma,  attended the Inhofe fundraiser and pigeon shoot undercover,  and captured the horror that unfolded. That video went viral,”  Hindi recounted in a SHARK media release.

         (See SHARK catches U.S. Senator James “Global warming is a hoax” Inhofe on video hosting a pigeon-blasting fundraiser.)

“After seeing the SHARK video,  representatives from the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation realized that the land Inhofe used was federally owned,”  Hindi continued.  “The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation investigated the property and discovered not only that Inhofe should never have been allowed to use the federal property to hold a political event,  but that there were illegal hunting blinds set up and a massive commercial grade dump where garbage was burned.”

The Bureau of Reclamation “made the parties remove the unauthorized hunting blinds and game feeders and clean up the burn pit,”  Hindi recounted.  “However,  no legal action was taken to hold anyone,  including Senator Inhofe,  accountable for the violations of federal law.”

(Beth Clifton collage)

Protected by political influence

The U.S. Senate Environment & Public Works Committee,  which Inhofe chaired,  “had oversight of the same agencies that should have investigated” Inhofe,  Hindi pointed out.

Hindi and SHARK had somewhat more success pursuing alleged violations of Oklahoma state law.

“In 2015,”  Hindi said,  “Inhofe was forced to drop his use of Oklahoma game wardens and county sheriff’s deputies as part of his shoot security.”

However,  Hindi added,  “At his 2015 shoot,  someone in Inhofe’s party shot down a drone used to capture footage of the slaughter,”  as shown on SHARK video.

            (See Shot hits SHARK drone during Senator James Inhofe pigeon shoot.)

“The shoot-down violated federal law,”  Hindi charged,  “but Greer County Sheriff Devon Huckabay refused to even allow his officers to respond.  Oklahoma Public Safety Commissioner Michael Thompson,  who is in charge of the Oklahoma Highway Patrol,  also refused to have anything to do with Inhofe’s [alleged] violations of state and federal law.”

            (See also Pigeon-shooters, dog-eaters, James Inhofe & the NRA,  and Trump booster Inhofe to host live pigeon shoot & dove hunt.)

Mark Wayne Mullin at his ranch.
(Mullin supplied photo)

Inhofe & Mullin pushed for horse slaughter

Inhofe as well as Mullin and former Oklahoma governor Mary Fallin actively pursued legislation to force the USDA to resume inspecting horsemeat,  a prerequisite for reopening U.S. horse slaughterhouses.

The USDA has not inspected horsemeat since 2007,  as result of amendments to each subsequent edition of the Farm Bill,  which funds USDA activities,  forbidding any use of funding for that purpose.

Inhofe on January 16,  2014 filed an amendment to the 2014 Farm Bill “that could lead to re-establishment of horse slaughter facilities,”  reported Tulsa World staff writer Randy Krehbiel,  “less than a day after Second District Congressman Markwayne Mullin cast one of 67 votes against the omnibus spending bill — in part,  he said,  because of the ban on horse slaughter inspections.

Former Humane Society Legislative Fund president Mike Markarian.

“Every animal advocate & horse lover”

“Inhofe and Mullin said they will introduce a stand-alone bill on horse slaughter if Inhofe’s amendment is not accepted,”  Krehbiel added.

Former Humane Society Legislative Fund president Michael Markarian on June 12, 2014 appealed to “every animal advocate and horse lover to contact their U.S. representative and urge them to vote ‘No’ on the Mullin amendments to allow horse slaughter.”

Despite Mullin,  then-Humane Society of the U.S. president  Wayne Pacelle blogged on December 16,  2015,  “Negotiators did the right thing and included [in the Farm Bill] language to forbid anyone from setting up a horse slaughter plant on American soil.”

Markwayne Mullin “led the pro-slaughter forces,”  Pacelle mentioned.

(Beth Clifton photo)

Mullin called Rand Paul “a snake in the grass”

Character issues,  though not animal issues,  were front-and-center during the U.S. Senate hearings on the Mullin nomination to head Homeland Security.

U.S. Senate Homeland Security chair Rand Paul,  a Republican from Kentucky,  “repeatedly pressed Mullin on past comments referring to Paul as a snake and questioned whether the Oklahoma Republican had the correct temperament to lead the sprawling department,”  reported Rebecca Beitsch for The Hill.

“Paul made clear he planned to vote no on Mullin,”  Beitsch continued,  “a declaration that would have otherwise sunk his nomination had the Oklahoma senator not received the backing of Democratic Senator John Fetterman of Pennsylvania,  allowing him to move forward on a 8-7 vote.”

(Beth Clifton collage)

“A history of aggression”

Before the vote,  Beitsch said,  “Only ranking member Gary Peters,”  a Democrat from Michigan,  “spoke,  saying Mullin did not have the temperament to lead a turnaround of an agency criticized for aggressive immigration enforcement.”

Peters,  Beitsch summarized,  “argued Mullin had displayed a history of aggression,  from threatening to fight Teamsters leader Sean O’Brien at a past hearing to remarking that he understood why Paul’s neighbor violently attacked him,”  in 2017,  leaving Paul with six broken ribs and a damaged lung.

Reminded Paul during the hearing,  addressing Mullin,  “You told the media that I was a ‘freaking snake’ and that you completely understood why I had been assaulted.”

Mullin acknowledged having called Paul a ‘snake in the grass.’”

Former Pennsylvania judge Adolph Joseph Antanavage shooting pigeons.
(SHARK photo)

Fetterman ignored pigeon shoots

Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman,  a Democrat,  has no visible record on pigeon shoots,  whereas pigeon shoots held at the Philadelphia Gun Club have since 1877 reputedly been a major venue,  perhaps the major venue,  for Republican political deal-making.

On January 3, 2020,  however,  the New York City Bar Association Animal Law Committee appealed to Fetterman,  then Pennsylvania lieutenant governor and president of the Pennsylvania State Senate,  to use his influence to pass legislation prohibiting pigeon shoots in Pennsylvania,  reminding Fetterman that “Pennsylvania remains the only state to regularly hold pigeon shoots.”

The letter was signed by then-New York City Bar Association Animal Law Committee chair Christopher Wlach.

“I didn’t send the letter from my email so can’t check for sure,  but I don’t recall seeing a response,”  Wlach told ANIMALS 24-7.

(Beth Clifton collage)

Endorsements

The Humane Society Legislative Fund subidiary of the Humane Society of the U.S.,  now called Humane World and the Humane World Legislative Fund,  headed by Sara Amundson,  endorsed the Fetterman campaign for his present U.S. Senate position in 2022.

Animal Wellness Action on June 18,  2023 identified Fetterman as an original co-sponsor of anti-horse slaughter legislation introduced by Senators Robert Menendez,  a Democrat from New Jersey,  and Lindsey Graham,  a Republican from South Carolina.

Animal Wellness Action,  the Center for a Humane Economy,  and Switch4Good on September 28,  2023 also “lauded U.S. Senator John Fetterman,”  among others,  for introducing a bill to add a “nutritionally equivalent,  plant-based milk option to cow’s milk in the National School Lunch Program.”

(Beth Clifton collage)

Favors banning cell-cultured meat

Language from that bill was incorporated into S. 222,  a bill to restore whole milk to the U.S. school lunch program at behest of the dairy industry,  signed into law by Donald Trump on January 14,  2026.

(See Can end of the “milk mandate” topple the new upside down Food Pyramid?)

Meanwhile,  Vox.com columnists Astra Taylor and Sunaura Taylor,  along with Slaughter-Free America blogger Jon Hochschartner,  critically observed that Fetterman had tweeted in support of a Florida state law signed in May 2024 by governor Ron DeSantis that criminalized the manufacture and sale of cell-cultivated meats.

A similar law was also soon afterward adopted in Alabama.

Wayne Pacelle.
(Beth Clifton collage)

Pacelle thinks Mullin “has warmed to animal issues”

Wayne Pacelle,  now president of both Animal Wellness Action and the Center for a Humane Economy,  recalled that Markwayne Mullin “voted against the Roskam amendment to the 2018 Farm bill to ban animal fighting in the U.S. territories,”  introduced by former Illinois U.S. Representative Peter Roskam,  a Republican from Illinois,  incorporated into federal law in 2018,   “and that was no surprise,”  assessed Pacelle,  “because Mullin represented Oklahoma’s 2 district,  which includes the southeastern portion of the state popularly known as Little Dixie,”  a hub of cockfighting.

“I get the feeling,  based on some meetings,”  Pacelle added,  “that Mullin will not co-sponsor the FIGHT Act,”  to reinforce federal law against cockfighting and dogfighting,  “but will also not oppose it.  My gut tells me he’ll take that approach on horse slaughter,”  Pacelle added,  “but this is just speculation.”

Mullin,  Pacelle believes,  “has warmed to animal issues since he took his Senate seat.

(Beth Clifton collage)

Co-sponsored FDA Modernization Act

“In his final term in the House,”  Pacelle said,  Mullin “actually co-sponsored the FDA Modernization Act,  which is the landmark bill we got passed in 2022 that eliminated the animal testing mandate and that has opened up the move by FDA commissioner Marty Makary to say he wants to make animal testing the ‘exception and not the rule.’

“In short,”  Pacelle finished,  “it’s my hope that Markwayne Mullin is evolving for the better on animal fighting.  I wanted to pitch Kristi Noem,”  the previous Homeland Security director,  “on cracking down on cockfighting as a way to actually nab illegal aliens engaging in criminal conduct,  but thought better of it because of her dog killing and her moral allergy to animal protection solutions.

“When Mullin is confirmed,  and I am confident he will be,”  Pacelle finished,  “I plan to approach him with this idea,”  a notion pointed out often and in detail by ANIMALS 24-7 since November 22,  2024.

(See What will deportations do to cockfighting, charreada, & outlaw horse racing?)

“Lowest of the low,”  says Hindi

Showing Animals Respect & Kindness founder Steve Hindi is much less optimistic.

“Mullin is a pigeon shooter,”  Hindi told ANIMALS 24-7.  “That makes him one of the lowest of the low.  He should just crawl off in a corner somewhere and pray to make amends for his life.  It would be hard to find someone with a worse record for animals than Kristi Noem,  but it looks like Donald Trump has done it.”

(See Trump cabinet nominees Doug Burgum & Kristi Noem records on animals.)

Bad as the Mullin record is toward animals and animal issues,  the Noem record is arguably worse.

(Beth Clifton collage)

Kristi Noem

Her 2024 memoir No Going Back,  reviewed first by Guardian breaking news editor and Washington D.C. correspondent Martin Pengelly,  shocked readers with her description of how she shot Cricket,  a 14-month-old wirehaired pointer.

Summarized Pengelly,  “By taking Cricket on a pheasant hunt with older dogs,  Noem says,  she hoped to calm the young dog down and begin to teach her how to behave.”

But Cricket went “out of her mind with excitement,  chasing all those birds and having the time of her life,”  Noem wrote.

(Beth Clifton collage)

Cricket killed chickens

Narrated Pengelly,  “Noem describes calling Cricket,  then using an electronic collar to attempt to bring her under control.  Nothing worked. Then,  on the way home after the hunt,  as Noem stopped to talk to a local family,  Cricket escaped Noem’s truck and attacked the family’s chickens, ‘grabb[ing] one chicken at a time,  crunching it to death with one bite,  then dropping it to attack another.’

Noem paid the family for their chickens.  Deciding that Cricket had proved herself ‘untrainable,’  ‘dangerous to anyone she came in contact with,’  and ‘less than worthless as a hunting dog,’”  although killing birds is exactly what Noem had hoped to train Cricket to do,  Noem shot Cricket in a nearby gravel pit.

(Beth Clifton collage)

Shot goat because he smelled like a goat

“Incredibly,”  Pengelly resumed,  “Noem’s tale of slaughter was not finished.

“Her family,  she wrote,  also owned a male goat who was ‘nasty and mean,’  because he had not been castrated.  Furthermore,  the goat smelled ‘disgusting,  musky,  rancid’ and ‘loved to chase’ Noem’s children,  knocking them down and ruining their clothes,”  a problem that most goat-keepers solve by putting up a fence.

“Noem decided to kill the unnamed goat the same way she had just killed Cricket the dog,”  reported Pengelly.  “But though she ‘dragged him to a gravel pit,’  the goat jumped as she shot and therefore survived the wound.  Noem says she went back to her truck,  retrieved another shell,  then ‘hurried back to the gravel pit and put him down.’”

Noem responded to Pengelly,  he added,  by informing him that she also “just had to put down three horses a few weeks ago that had been in our family for 25 years.”

(Beth Clifton photo)

History of bloodlust

Noem already had a history of bloodlust unparalleled among current U.S. governors.

Among her first actions as the then newly elected governor of South Dakota,  was introducing a “nest predator bounty program” in 2019 with the stated goals of  “diminishing the population of animals who eat pheasant and duck eggs,  and helping to ensure trapping remains a part of South Dakota’s outdoor heritage.”

Funded with half a million dollars per year,  the bounty program from April 1 through July 1 each year targets raccoons,  coyotes,  striped skunks,  badgers,  opossums,  and red fox,  with a goal of killing 50,000 “nest predators” per year.

To collect the bounty,  participants must turn in the tails of the dead animals.

Ringneck pheasant.
(Beth Clifton photo)

240,000 “nest predators” killed

Through 2024,  290,000 “nest predators” were killed for the bounties.

The number of pheasants shot increased from 2019 to 2024 by 771,000.

Nonetheless,  the 2023 toll of 1.6 million was still 500,000 below the number of pheasants shot in 2007,  when no bounties were in effect,  but weather conditions and farm cropping choices were more conducive to pheasant abundance.

Merritt & Beth Clifton.
(Beth Clifton photo)

            (For a detailed analysis of the failure of the bounty program,  which is to continue at least through 2026,  see South Dakota predator bounty program to continue despite opposition,  by Bart Pfankuch and Abbey Stegenga of South Dakota News Watch.)

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The post A worse record on animals than Kristi Noem? Meet Markwayne Mullin appeared first on Animals 24-7.

Anthony Devore making America clean again.
(Beth Clifton collage)

Will community service sentence see Devore picking up trash?

EUFAULA,  Oklahoma––Anthony Devore,  54,  former president of the now legally dissolved Oklahoma Gamefowl Commission,  was on April 6,  2026 convicted of being a spectator,  a misdemeanor,  at a June 8,  2024 cockfight illegally held on the Cherokee Nation.

After initially pleading “not guilty,”  DeVore switched his plea to “no contest” to the charge,  originating from undercover and drone video obtained by Animal Wellness Action and Showing Animals Respect & Kindness,  but not actually filed until September 8,  2025.

(See Anthony Devore: “Shocked, shocked” to find cockfighting at a cockfight?)

            Brendon Bridges,  an associate district judge for the McIntosh County District Court in Eufala,  Oklahoma,  first elected in November 6, 2018,  sentenced Devore to perform 20 hours of unpaid community service,  fined him $100,  and suspended a six-month jail term,  conditional on good behavior.

Anthony Devore is on the right.
(Animal Wellness Action photo)

May seek expungement,  but that will not change history

Devore’s attorney,  Billy Coyle of Oklahoma City,  told Anna Pope of KOSU radio that upon completing the six-month suspended sentence,  Devore will apply to have the conviction expunged.

Crowed Coyle,  “I think in his heart, he still believes what he did is not a crime.  I think he probably was raised on rooster dueling for his entire life and doesn’t believe that the government should be involved in criminal prosecutions of something that a lot of people enjoy and take pride in. But at the same time, I think he wanted to put it behind him.”

Devore,  of Caddo,  Oklahoma,  is seeking election in November 2026 to the seat in the state house of representatives held since 2016 by Justin Humphrey of Atoka.

Both are Republicans.  Humphrey is now running for lieutenant governor.

(Beth Clifton collage)

Known by the company they keep

“During his time as representative,”  recounted Pope,  “Humphrey authored measures to reduce the penalties for cockfighting, which is a felony in the state.”

Humphrey also pursued legislation to start a hunting season for the mythical Bigfoot,  also known as Sasquatch,  and to start a state-run blood bank to provide vaccine-free blood to anti-vaxxers.

Denying involvement in cockfighting,  “The Oklahoma Gamefowl Commission has repeatedly advocated for a reduction in penalties,  saying it wanted to defend members’ rights to raise roosters,”  Pope continued.

Along with Devore,  now convicted of attending a cockfight,  the other Oklahoma Gamefowl Commission cofounder,  Blake Pearce,  was also documentedly present at the McIntosh County cockfight,  Oklahoma Humane Forum administrator Kevin Chambers told ANIMALS 24-7.

(See Anthony Devore: “Shocked, shocked” to find cockfighting at a cockfight?)

Oklahoma state legislator Justin Humphrey.  (Beth Clifton collage)

“Remember that judges & district attorneys are elected”

Disappointed in the light sentence given to Devore,  Chambers commented,  “Prosecutors and judges must do better.  The reason Oklahoma has a severe animal cruelty problem is that many do not take animal abuse seriously.  Some do,  and we support them.  Remember,”  Chambers reminded fellow Oklahomans,  “that judges and district attorneys are elected in most cases.

“Note that lawyer Billy Coyle,”  Chambers added,  “has defended numerous cockfighters and dogfighters in Oklahoma.  He’s their go-to guy.”

Actually “commissioned” by nobody,  and never any sort of official Oklahoma state-sanctioned entity,  the Oklahoma Gamefowl Commission was fined $10,000 and ordered to dissolve “following a settlement with the [state] Ethics Commission for violating state rules governing contributions,”  reported Emma Murphy for Oklahoma Voice on September 17,  2025.

(See OK Gamefowl Commission dissolved, top cock Devore criminally charged.)

“The committee must dissolve within 30 days and cannot form a new affiliated political action committee for two years,”  Murphy added.

Anthony Devore.
(Beth Clifton collage)

Anonymous contributions above legal limit

Detailed Murphy,  “The political action committee admitted to accepting anonymous contributions above the legal limit,  failing to collect the required contact information of contributors,  spending funds outside the committee’s purpose,  accepting prohibited corporate contributions,  and failing to maintain accurate records.”

Devore,  while claiming a master’s degree in criminal justice and a doctorate in education,  previously ran an Ardmore solar energy contracting business called Texoma Solar Solutions.

“According to information in BBB files,  this business is no longer in business,”  says the Better Business Bureau report on Texoma Solar Solutions.    

The photo above links to an exposé by Kaitlin Deggs of KOTV in Tulsa, Oklahoma of Anthony Devore’s solar business.

No sunshine on solar business      

“BBB files indicate that this business has a pattern of complaints concerning customer service and repair issues,”  the report continues,  including 34 separate sets of unresolved consumer grievances.

Multiple lawsuits reportedly pending against Devore in connection with his solar installation business either never went to trial,  were dropped,  or were settled out of court.

“On April 3,  2023,”  the report mention,  “the Better Business Bureau submitted a written request to the business encouraging them to address the pattern of complaints.  The BBB is awaiting a response from the business.”

            Three years later the Better Business Bureau is apparently still waiting.

The Better Business Bureau page on Texoma Solar Solutions mentions that Devore also appears to have done business as Sunset Solar & Electric Power,  LLC.

(Beth Clifton collage)

Eight alleged cockfighters busted in Texas

While Devore awaited his court date in Oklahoma,  a string of apparently unrelated cockfighting busts occurred in Arizona,  Texas,  and New Mexico.

On April 4,  2026,  Maricopa County,  Arizona sheriff’s deputies impounded 157 live roosters,  $18,000 in cash,  a dry-erase board displaying bets,  four handguns,  an AR-15 rifle,  and cockfighting gaffs from a property in the Rainbow Valley area,  near Buckeye,  Alexis Cortez reported for AZ Family. 

“When deputies arrived,  they witnessed the cockfights firsthand and saw several people fleeing,”  Cortez recounted.  “Authorities say some people crashed through fences,  and others were running away from the scene.”

Arrested were suspects identified as Abraham Casas, 18;  Jesus Hernandez,  49;  Andy Vergara,  40;  Edgar DeLeon,  53;  Jose Rodriguez-Martinez,  39;  Martín Fernández-Holguín,  58;  Jesus Hernandez III,  25;  and Serafín Ayala-Ibarra,  55.

Recalled Cortez,  “This is the second cockfighting ring busted by Maricopa County deputies this year.  In January,  deputies arrested an alleged ringleader and two others for reportedly taking part and organizing a cockfight at a property in Tonopah.  Then,  a fourth person was arrested, and witnesses reported that she was paid off to allow it to happen.”

(See Cockfighters as well as New England Patriots lost big on Super Sunday.)

(Beth Clifton collage)

Alleged New Mexico perp may be deported

One suspect,  alleged illegal immigrant Ernesto Roacha Ramirez,  “was arrested and charged with cockfighting and cruelty to livestock,  both felonies,”  reported Paul Wedding for WFAA television news in Dallas,  Texas,  a week after the Parker County Sheriff’s Office and animal control officers responded to a call for an animal welfare check on March 23,  2026.

“Deputies reportedly saw several dead and partially burned chicken carcasses in a burn barrel on the property,  officials said. They also reported seeing several wounded chickens with injuries suggestive of cockfighting,”  Wedding explained.

“They also reportedly found injured birds who had been ‘live plucked,’  meaning their feathers were ripped from their breasts and legs,  and shaved from their backs.

“More than 200 chicken coops were found,  officials said,  many of them filled with dead birds.  Investigators also reportedly found several bottles of injectable steroids,”  Wedding detailed.

Twenty-eight roosters and 14 hens were impounded immediately.

“An additional 359 birds were seized on April 2,  2026,  officials said,”  Wedding continued.

In addition,  Wedding said,  “An ICE detainer was also placed on Ramirez pending a deportation hearing.”

(Beth Clifton collage)

“More than 100 people” nabbed in New Mexico

While the Texas case was underway,  “More than 100 people were detained” after being found at a March 28,  2026 cockfight in Chaves County,  New Mexico,  undersheriff Charles Yslas told Monica Logroño of KOB television news in Albuquerque.

“At least three people are considered primary suspects,”  Logroño summarized.  “But even if some of the other detainees were spectators,  they could face jail time under New Mexico law.

“The sheriff’s office said about twenty suspects did try to flee but said they were able to catch them all.  Yslas said detectives seized electronics like laptops and hard drives,  ledgers,  safes, documents,  roosters and cockfighting equipment,”  Logroño added.

(Beth Clifton collage)

Roswell bust followed “El Gallo Show”

Updated Albuquerque Journal staff writer Algernon D’Ammassa a day later,   “No suspects have been officially named, although three were said to be primary suspects,  with one described as ‘a local business owner (who) deals in the organization of events and renting venues.’

“From photographs released by the sheriff’s office,”  D’Ammassa continued,  “the location of the operation was the Anaya Trinity Ranch,  which is listed on Airbnb for guest rentals.  The ranch did not respond to a query from the Journal and an associated business hung up after dialing a reporter one minute later.

“One week before the Roswell event,  on March 21,  2026,”  D’Ammassa noted,  “the El Gallo Show — a traveling trade and exhibit show featuring rooster breeders and vendors selling decorative gaff holsters,  ointments,  supplements and items associated with cockfighting — was held at the Corral Arena in Hobbs.

Merritt & Beth Clifton with Henry the rooster.

“The popular exhibition is organized by KC Ranch of Texas,”  D’Ammassa said.  “Founder Katalina Carvente maintains the show is not involved in illegal cockfighting and caters to animal husbandry,  breeders preserving genetic lines,  and collectors.”

Which is exactly what the Oklahoma Gamefowl Commission claimed to be doing,  before Anthony Devore and Blake Pearce were videotaped at a cockfight.

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(Beth Clifton collage)

Five-year investigation brings charges against one suspect.  Another was apparently already convicted.

BOSTON,  Massachusetts––”Beginning in 2021,”  the affidavit of U.S. Department of Agriculture special investigator Christopher Robinson begins,  “the United States initiated a criminal investigation of CO-CONSPIRATOR 1 for federal offenses related to dog fighting.

“Law enforcement identified two Facebook accounts associated with CO-CONSPIRATOR 1.

“On May 27, 2022,”  a Massachusetts federal judge “issued search warrants for both of CO-CONSPIRATOR 1’s Facebook accounts.  The records produced by Facebook in response to those warrants contain evidence of both [COREY] ELLIOTT as well as CO-CONSPIRATOR 1’s involvement in dog fighting.”

Nearly four years later,  on April 14,  2026,  announced the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts,  “A Carver,  Massachusetts man,”  Corey Elliott,  “has been arrested and charged in connection with his alleged participation in a multi-year dog fighting conspiracy involving the breeding,  training and fighting of dogs,  as well as related animal cruelty and illegal gambling activities.”

The identity of “CO-CONSPIRATOR 1” and any charges against “CO-CONSPIRATOR 1” remain undisclosed.

Corey Elliott.  (Massachusetts RMV photo/Beth Clifton collage)

Who is Corey Elliott?

Corey Elliott,  according to Emily Maher and Tim Nazzaro of WCBV television news channel 5 in Boston,  “either works or previously worked at Boston Children’s Hospital.  NewsCenter 5 has reached out to the hospital for comment but has not heard back,”  they mentioned.

“Corey Elliott,  49,  has been charged with conspiring to participate in an animal fighting venture in violation of the federal Animal Welfare Act,”  the U.S. Attorney’s Office media release continued.

“Specifically”  said the media release,   “it is alleged that Elliott and a co-conspirator operated a dog fighting venture,  at times using the kennel name the No Name Gang,  through which they possessed,  bred,  trained and fought dogs for sport and profit.

“The defendant and his co-conspirator allegedly maintained a close partnership over a period of years,”  the media release detailed,  “during which they communicated extensively about dog fighting activities,  including arranging fights,  discussing outcomes,  placing wagers and coordinating the acquisition,  sale and conditioning of dogs for fighting purposes.”

(Beth Clifton collage)

Allegedly held dog fights at home

Elliott in specific,  the charging documents allege,  “was directly involved in organizing and hosting dog fighting events,  including at his residence in Carver,  Massachusetts,  and assisted in constructing dog fighting pits and kennel structures designed to house and condition dogs for fighting.  Elliott and his co-conspirator allegedly discussed plans for specific fights,  including the dogs to be used,  the location and timing of the events,  and preparations necessary to conduct the fights.

“It is further alleged,”  the U.S. Attorney’s Office media release summarizes,  “that Elliott engaged in acts of animal cruelty in furtherance of the conspiracy,  including training dogs to fight, subjecting dogs to violent encounters,  and culling dogs.

“Elliott also allegedly discussed disposing of deceased animals and,  at times,  taking steps to conceal evidence of dog fighting activity,”  including “use of coded language when discussing dog fighting activities,  concealing dogs from public view,  advising one another on how to avoid scrutiny from law enforcement and animal control authorities, and relocating dogs to avoid potential seizure.

John Murphy with pit bulls in fighting pit.
(Massachusetts U.S. District Attorney’s Office photo)

John D. Murphy

“Searches of the [un-named] co-conspirator’s residence in June 2023 resulted in the seizure of multiple pit bull-type dogs and evidence consistent with dog fighting activity,”  the U.S. Attorney’s Office media release said,  “including veterinary supplies,  training equipment,  and implements associated with dog fighting.”

A June 8,  2023 report by NBC Universal mentioned that,  “An investigation at a home in Hanson,  Massachusetts, is looking into possible dog fighting,  law enforcement sources told NBC 10 in Boston.  Investigators released few details,” but “Federal agents and the Animal Rescue League of Boston searched a home on East Washington Street.  Throughout the day,  investigators could be seen taking out boxes,  paper bags,  and empty animal crates.

“A law enforcement source also told NBC10 Boston that the investigation involved multiple locations in Massachusetts and two other states.”

Convicted dog fighter John D. Murphy lived in Hanson,  Massachusetts at that time.

John D. Murphy.
(Massachusetts U.S. District Attorney’s Office photo)

Murphy copped a plea

Murphy,  like Elliott,  apparently came under investigation in 2021,  when he “was identified discussing dog fighting on recorded calls with a New York-based dog fighting target,”  the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts disclosed when Murphy was sentenced in April 2025.

Indicted in March 2024,  Murphy in November 2024 pleaded guilty to nine counts of possessing animals for use in an animal fighting venture.

Murphy was in April 2025 sentenced by U.S. Senior District Court Judge William G. Young to serve one year and one day in prison,  with the last three months to be served in community confinement,  followed by three years of supervised release,  and “was also ordered to pay a fine of $10,000 and prohibited from possessing pit-bull type dogs,”  the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts said at the time.

(See Dogfighting gang member busted again, another sentenced, 11 nabbed in NC.)

(Beth Clifton collage)

Multiple pit bulls impounded from Elliott

“In June 2025,”  the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts recounted on April 14,  2026,   “during a search of Elliott’s residence in Carver,  Massachusetts,  multiple pit bull-type dogs were seized from an outdoor kennel area.

“According to the charging documents, several of the dogs exhibited scarring consistent with dog fighting.  It is further alleged that multiple items consistent with dog fighting activity were also recovered,  including dog pedigrees,  harnesses,  leashes,  syringes and veterinary medications,  as well as equipment used to train and condition dogs.”

Concluded the U.S. Attorney’s Office media release,  “The charge of conspiring to participate in an animal fighting venture provides for a sentence of up to five years in prison,  three years of supervised release,  and a fine of up to $250,000.”

(Beth Clifton collage)

90 pit bulls & eight suspects in Mississippi

The Corey Elliott case is at least the sixth U.S. dog fighting case coming to light in 2026.

(Beth Clifton collage)

Texas dog fighting bust

On February 10,  2026,  reported Allie Spillyards and Alicia Barrera for NBC 5 in Dallas,  “More than 200 dogs were rescued in what police say was a major bust in an alleged dog fighting network that stretched across several North Texas counties,  the largest bust of its kind in recent history.

“Dallas Police,  along with state and federal officials,  Spillyards and Barrera said,
“served 27 warrants at properties in Dallas,  Ellis,  Kaufman,  and Smith counties.

“According to police,  more than 200 dogs were rescued,  stolen guns were recovered,  and additional evidence of dog fighting was seized.”

The alleged fighting pit bulls were said to be  tethered to heavy chains and in dilapidated, makeshift kennels.”

See “Dogman” & cocker Floyd Boudreaux, 91, outlived 3-month-old pit bull victim. 
(Beth Clifton collage)

Dog fight busted in Lousiana

A little less than two weeks later,  on February 21,  2026,  the sheriff’s office in Tangipahoa Parish,  Louisiana raided an alleged dog fight in progress,  “operating on property in Roseland,  which is north of Amite,”  specified Bob Warren of NOLA.com.

Continued Warren,  “Deputies acting on a tip at around 8 p.m. arrived at the site to find more than a dozen people scattering,  the sheriff’s office said.  At the site, deputies found a ring in which the dogs fought,  a scale,  and a program featuring the various dogs to be fought.  They also found a dog in bad physical condition.”

Said the Tangipahoa Sheriff’s Office in a prepared statement,  “The ongoing investigation led detectives to a property about a mile away from the event location,  where detectives found 13 dogs chained to a line of poles surrounded by an electric fence.

“Most of the dogs,  but not all,  had only a plastic barrel for shelter and dirty water bowls.  No food was found anywhere on the property.

(Beth Clifton collage)

Four suspects

“Several dogs had numerous old scars, one had a more recent,  extensive eye injury,  and one had a fresh tail injury. There was also evidence that dog fighting events were held on this property as well.”

Property owner Alfred Dyson,  64,  “who authorities said owned the property,  was booked on counts of dog fighting and cruelty to animals,”  Warren reported.

Alfred Lott, Jr.,  52,  of Kentwood,  Louisiana,  “is wanted on 13 counts of Dog Fighting and Cruelty to Animals,”  the Tangipahoa Sheriff’s Office said.

Arthur Rose,  Sr.,  43,  of Slidell,  Louisiana,  and David Coleman III,  26 , of Port Arthur,  Texas,  were  “wanted on one count each of Dog Fighting and Cruelty to Animals,”  the Tangipahoa Sheriff’s Office added.

All three suspects were apprehended by March 11,  2026.

(Beth Clifton collage)

19 indicted in Georgia

“Nineteen individuals have been indicted following a year-long investigation into an alleged dog fighting operation in Twiggs County,  Georgia,”  the Twiggs County Sheriff’s Office announced in a February 26, 2026 media release,  but did not name the suspects.

“The indictments,  returned by a Twiggs County grand jury,”  the media release continued,  “allege that the defendants participated in organized dog fighting activities in violation of Georgia law.

“The charges stem from a comprehensive investigation involving surveillance,  the execution of search warrants,  recovery of animals,  and the collection of evidence related to animal cruelty and illegal dog fighting practices.

The Twiggs County Sheriff’s Office said the raid was “conducted in close partnership with the Office of the District Attorney,  with critical assistance from the Georgia Department of Natural Resources,  the U.S. Department of Agriculture,  the ASPCA,  the Atlanta Humane Society,  LaGrange Animal Control,  and Laurens County Animal Control.”

Unclear is whether the series of U.S. dog fighting busts have any connection with an April 9,  2026 bust in North London,  England.

Beth & Merritt Clifton.
(Daniel Leventhal photo)

Corey Ledgister,  51,  of Enfield,  was reportedly arrested in possession of 13 counterfeit Glock-style firearms,  13 extended magazines and 640 rounds of ammunition,  along with cannabis and “eight prohibited dogs,”  meaning pit bulls,  who “had injuries consistent with breeding and dog fighting,”  according to a London Police statement.

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(Beth Clifton collage)

Crowing roosters are solar-powered

BAILEYTON, Alabama––Showing Animals Respect & Kindness drone video on the morning of April 18,  2026 caught a steady stream of cockfighters carrying dead and dying roosters out of a metal-clad shed at 1951 County Road 1570, Baileyton,  in northeastern Cullman County,  Alabama.

One man threw a wounded rooster into the back of a flatbed truck parked beside the building.  The rooster flopped and struggled there for several minutes.

About 50 cars and pickup trucks surrounded the building––an unusually large number of vehicles to attend anything in Baileyton,  population less than 700,  located about 10 miles from anywhere bigger.

(Beth Clifton collage)

“There is an active cockfight”

“There is an active cockfight happening,”  Showing Animals Respect & Kindness alerted members by email and on Facebook,  giving the address.

“Please call the Cullman County Sheriff’s Office and demand that they go out and end this illegal animal abuse now.  You can call [sheriff Matt Gentry] at 256-734-0342.

“You can also send a message through their contact form,  or leave an anonymous tip on their tipline,”  with links provided.

“Please take action,”  Showing Animals Respect & Kindness asked.  “Help end these birds suffering and make sure that Sheriff Gentry does his job and ends criminal activity happening in his county!”

Respondents made the calls.  The Showing Animals Respect & Kindness drone team kept the site under video surveillance.

(Beth Clifton collage)

Non-response

But what happened was a blatant repeat of what happened the last time the Showing Animals Respect & Kindness reported a cockfight in Cullman County,  on the morning of April 20,  2023,  almost exactly three years earlier.

(See Cullman County, Alabama: combatting cockfighting in a KKK stronghold.)

As on April 18,  2026,  a SHARK drone on April 20,  2023 discovered a cockfight in progress at a cockpit near Bug Tussle,  a Cullman County hamlet notorious for hosting cockfights for at least half a century.

Alerted by SHARK,  the Cullman County sheriff’s office responded,  more or less,  but not before nearly 100 carloads of cockfighters,  acting as if tipped off,  had adequate opportunity to suspend their activity and abscond,  with their gamefowl,  leaving only feathers,  tire tracks,  and of course the cockpit itself to show they ever were there.

Steve Hindi.

“Are you corrupt?” demands Hindi

Demanded Showing Animals Respect & Kindness founder Steve Hindi of sheriff Matt Gentry on the afternoon of April 18,  2026,  in an open email:

“Are you corrupt?  Please let us know why you and the Cullman Sheriff’s Office refused to look at our clear footage of dead roosters being carried out today at 1951 County Road 1570, Baileyton,

“You’ve received our evidence,”  Hindi charged.  “We were told that you didn’t have enough manpower [to bust the cockfight],  yet two sheriff’s deputies rolled up to the scene and did nothing.

“Please let us know why you are not busting this cockfight,”  Hindi challenged,  “and we will post your unedited excuse on www.CrushCockfighting.com.”

As of April 20,  2026,  Gentry has apparently not responded.

(Beth Clifton collage)

Cockfighting & the KKK

Cockfighting,  the Ku Klux Klan,  and corruption of law enforcement came together from Georgia to Cullman County,  Alabama,  home of the Bug Tussle cockpit,  even before Cullman County was hacked off from neighboring Blount County in 1877.

All three––cockfighting,  the Klan,  and corruption of law enforcement––appear to have become locally established by 1870,  five years after the end of the U.S. Civil War.

Throughout the South,  the Ku Klux Klan and innumerable offshoots have funded themselves and bought off law enforcement,  or have actually been law enforcement,  as a white supremacist rural organized crime syndicate.

Cockfighting,  dogfighting,  slot machines,  prostitution,  drug trafficking,  and moonshining have all been economic foundations of the Klan.

Cockfighting remains evident in Cullman County,  and lingering remnants of the Ku Klux Klan and corruption of law enforcement remain shadows in the background.

(Beth Clifton collage)

Gentry stood up to the Klan

But three-term Cullman County sheriff Matt Gentry,  serving since 2015,  at least made a show of standing up to the Klan when newly elected.

Reported Melanie Posey for WBRC television news in Birmingham,  Alabama,  on September 14,  2015,  “Folks who live in the Crane Hill community,”  an all-white hamlet diagonally across Cullman County from Baileyton,  “discovered little baggies with candy inside and also notes that said ‘Our Race Is Our Nation’ and ‘Save Our Land…Join The Klan.’

“A North Carolina phone number is listed on the flyer,”  Posey continued.  “That number is answered with a recording in which black Americans are referred to in derogatory terms,”  concluding “This has been a message of the Royal White Knights of the KKK.”

Gentry told Posey that “Some of the bags were [also] found in the city of Cullman,”  the Cullman County seat.

“Sheriff Gentry says investigators are trying to get fingerprints off the fliers they’ve been given and have those traced if possible,”  Posey concluded.

(Beth Clifton collage)

Now stands up to “liberal green energy agendas”

If anything came of that,  it appears not to have been reported.

Gentry did,  however,  on January 29,  2026,  post disapproval of someone having drawn a swastika in snow at a local park two days before,  on Holocaust Remembrance Day.

What has been extensively reported is that Gentry is currently a Republican candidate for Alabama Public Service Commission,  running on a platform of “pledging to fight back against liberal green energy agendas,”  claiming a start-up campaign budget of $197,800.

Steve Hindi and Showing Animals Respect & Kindness,  meanwhile,  are more than 50 years from the first to expose and try to stop cockfighting in Cullman County.

John Walsh (front) from Time Is Short & The Water Rises.

Cullman County cockfighting exposed in 1972

As Ku Klux Klan influence faded nationally,  Cullman Times Democrat staff writer W.R. Morris produced an exposé of cockfighting on August 27,  1972,  with help from renowned International Society for the Protection of Animals investigator John Walsh.

(See Time Is Short And The Water Rises.)

“Cockfighting is a growing ‘sport’ in Cullman County,”  Morris warned.  “Chicken fighters in Cullman County usually hold their bouts on Saturday nights and Sunday afternoons,  in the southeast section of the county,”  in other words in the Bug Tussle neighborhood.

If W.R. Morris ever had another byline in the Cullman Times Democrat, NewspaperArchive.com seems to have no record of it.

Jerry Thompson,  journalist.
(Beth Clifton collage)

Jerry Thompson exposed Klan in Cullman

Tyler Roden,  whose father and grandfather also served at times as Cullman County sheriff,  in 1999,  2002,  and 2009 led the only documented cockfighting busts in county history,  all at Bug Tussle,  seizing $18,000 in cash in the 2009 raid.

Elected sheriff in 1994,  Roden was voted out of office in 2010.

The Ku Klux Klan,  meanwhile,  put in many more Cullman appearances.  Knoxville Tennessean investigative reporter Jerry Thompson (1940-2000),  author of My Life With The Klan (1980),  journeyed to Cullman to expose Bill Wilkinson’s Invisible Empire,  Knights of the Ku Klux Klan,  identified by the FBI at the time as the most violent and dangerous of the many Klan factions.

Merritt & Beth Clifton with Henry the rooster.

Wilkinson himself,  ironically,  resigned from the Klan in 1984 and relocated to Belize after turning FBI informant.

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(Beth Clifton collage)

Cockfighters convicted but sentenced to probation plus minimal fines

ALLEGAN, Michigan;  NEWALLA,  Oklahoma;  ST. LANDRY PARISH,  Louisiana––Catching cockfighters in the act on drone video is one thing,  persuading country sheriffs to bust them is another,  and after all that,  convincing county judges to throw so much as a comic book at them is another problem still,  Showing Animals Respect & Kindness and Animal Wellness Action are discovering.

Twice on the same day,  Showing Animals Respect & Kindness and Animal Wellness Action learned on April 20,  2026,  local judges let convicted cockfighters walk without jail time.

Those verdicts came eleven days after another local judge allowed an alleged cockfighter to have his roosters back,  pending trial.

Edin Dilson Rodas. ( Facebook photos)

Pleaded guilty to three felonies,  gets no time

“In March 2026,  Edin Dilson Rodas,  37,  pleaded guilty to three felony counts of killing/torturing animals,  animal fighting,  and possessing fighting animals/equipment,”  Katherine Wilkison reported on April 20,  2026,  for WOOD television in Grand Rapids,  Michigan.

“An Allegan County Circuit Court judge,”  believed to be Margaret Zuzich,  on the bench since 2011,.  “sentenced Rodas to 18 months’ probation,  court records show,”  Wilkison continued.

“Rodas faced a minimum of one day in jail,  according to court records.  He received credit for time served and will not spend any time behind bars,”  Wilkison added.

Elaborated Wilkison,  “The charges stem from a cockfighting event held at Rodas’ Hopkins Township home in July 2025,  the Allegan County sheriff’s office said.  Authorities became aware of the event after an Illinois-based animal rights advocacy group,  Showing Animals Respect and Kindness, or SHARK,  sent video of the fight to the sheriff’s department.”

Undersheriff Michael Larson.
(Allegan County photo)

What really happened

That was the short version.

On September 30,  2025,  Riley Mack of WZZM television news in Grand Rapids  reported that Rodas had been arraigned a week earlier,  indeed after Showing Animals Respect & Kindness sent the sheriff’s office video of a cockfight allegedly hosted at Rodas’ home in Hopkins Township on July 26,  2025.

“Three days later,”  Mack mentioned,  “deputies executed a search warrant at the home and found evidence to support the charges.  Rodas’ bond was set at $5,000.”

“Three days later” coincided with publication of the ANIMALS 24-7 exposé Allegan County Sheriff’s Office admits “deficient” response to cockfight,  detailing how Showing Animals Respect & Kindness on July 26, 2025,  the day of the alleged cockfighting derby,  “caught a parade of alleged cockfighters in facially recognizable detail coming and going from” Rodas’ barn,  but could not get the sheriff’s office to respond,  despite multiple complaints.  Allegan County undersheriff Michael Larson acknowledged the “deficient” response from his office.

(See Spurring cops to bust cockfighters, SHARK aims for steer-tailers to be next.)

(Beth Clifton collage)

Three years deferred & $360 fine plus costs

Meanwhile in Oklahoma,  Michael McNutt of Nondoc.com reported,  also on April 20, 2026,  Ellie Pennit Grino,  “For essentially pleading guilty while maintaining a claim of innocence” by pleading “no contest” to cockfighting-related charges,  “received a three-year deferred sentence and was ordered to pay about $360 in court fees and fines.”

Grino “faced a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison if he had pleaded guilty or had been found guilty by a jury at trial,”  McNutt wrote.

“Grino,  53,  of Newalla,  had resisted settling the case since September 2024,”  McNutt recounted,  “after prosecutors dropped 56 of the charges filed against him and a judge dismissed two of the three remaining charges during a preliminary hearing.

(Beth Clifton collage)

Constitutional argument tossed

“Grino maintained it was his constitutional right to raise[gamecocks],”  McNutt summarized,  “and attorney Billy Coyle used that argument in his motion to dismiss the case during a hearing before Oklahoma County district court judge Susan Stallings.

Responded Stallings,  “There is absolutely no constitutional right to engage in an activity of animal cruelty,  which is cockfighting,  and for that reason, the court is going to deny the motion to dismiss.”

Continued McNutt,  “Stallings’ ruling cleared the way for Grino’s scheduled trial to begin.  However,  Stallings had another case arise,  meaning Grino’s trial would have had to be heard by a different judge.

“After discussing the situation with Coyle,  Grino opted to agree to the negotiated settlement that means no jail time and no criminal record if he does not commit a crime during the next three years.”

Anthony Devore making America clean again.  (Beth Clifton collage)

Oklahoma Gamefowl Commission founder got off easy too

Recalled McNutt,  “Grino was stopped in April 2023 for a traffic offense in Pottawatomie County.  Police said an officer found a box designed to transport game birds used for cockfighting,  as well as accessories used in cockfighting,”  leading to Grino’s arrest in Oklahoma County.

Defending the plea bargain,  Oklahoma County assistant district attorney David Batton told McNutt that Grino “already forfeited his 93 animals [gamefowl],  which was a significant cost to him.  He has not been in any other trouble.”

Summarized McNutt,  “If Grino violates the terms of his probation,  which includes abstaining from anything to do with cockfighting,  he could face up to 10 years in prison,  Batton said.”

Kevin Chambers,  Animal Wellness Action representative for Oklahoma,  reminded McNutt that “Anthony DeVore,  the founder and president of the former Oklahoma Gamefowl Commission — a group that sought to decriminalize cockfighting—pleaded no contest last month to a misdemeanor charge of being a spectator at a cockfight and received a six-month deferred sentence and a $100 fine.”

            (See Oklahoma Gamefowl Commission cofounder Anthony Devore convicted.)

Kevin Chambers of Animal Wellness Action testifying at Arkansas State Senate Judiciary Committee.

“I saw it with my own eyes”

“I saw it with my own eyes,”  Chambers said.  “He gets off with basically a $100 fine and probation, and then he’s running for state representative.  That’s frustrating because these are people who know they are breaking the law,  yet continue to do it.  And they’ll continue to do it because it’s lucrative,  because of the gambling involved.  They’ll continue to do it until the courts make it too costly for them.”

Grino and his wife,  Jannine Crespo Yee,   originally faced 59 counts related to cockfighting,  but the case against Yee and all but three charges against Grino were thrown out at a preliminary hearing on September 10,  2024  by Oklahoma County special judge Jason Glidewell.

Grino at that time acknowledged selling gamefowl to customers in the Philippines and Mexico.

“Grino said he has been raising game fowl since 1997 when cockfighting was legal,”  wrote McNutt then.

B.L. Cozad Jr.
(Beth Clifton collage)

B.L. Cozad

“B.L. Cozad,  a game fowl breeder from Indiahoma, showed up to support Grino,  whom he said he has known since about 1994,”  McNutt observed.

“Cozad,  who ran unsuccessfully for the Oklahoma statehouse District 63 seat in 2012 and in 2014,  said he has about 400 birds on his farm. Asked what he does with them,  he said he harvests them.  Pressed further, he said, “I fight them.”

Asked where,  Cozad said,  “All over.”

(See Cockfighter Cozad missed chance to hide behind U.N. “Agenda 21”.)

Steve Hindi.  (SHARK photo)

“This is how it is supposed to work,”  says Hindi

Showing Animals Respect & Kindness [SHARK] founder Steve Hindi was happier with developments in an alleged cockfighting case that SHARK brought to the notice of local law enforcement on April 18,  2026 near Reklaw,  in Rusk County,  Texas.

“We got info,  made a call to the police,  and they went to work,”  Hindi told ANIMALS 24-7.

“Four people are behind bars after deputies found 56 dead roosters,”  reported Meredith Billings for KLTV in Tyler,  Texas.

“Eleven roosters were found still alive and seized from the property,”  Billings said.

Crystal Velazquez, 21,  Gerardo Rangel,  47,  Christopher Juarez,  19,  and Francisco Guerrero,  57,  all face felony charges of cockfighting and misdemeanor charges evading arrest,”  Billings added.

(Beth Clifton collage)

Louisiana defendant got his roosters back

But the news from St. Landry Parish,  Louisiana,  was less encouraging.

Explained Lilianna Badeaux for KLFY in Lafayette,  Louisiana,  a 27th Judicial District Court judge allowed cockfighting defendant John Eddie Lachapelle to keep roosters impounded from him in a cockfighting case pending trial,  partly because St. Landry Parish president Jessie Bellard testified that “Animal Control does not have the financial resources to keep the roosters.”

Merritt & Beth Clifton with Henry the rooster.

Lachapelle remains charged with four felonies and a misdemeanor,  Badeaux mentioned, including felony aggravated cruelty and attempted aggravated animal cruelty,  along with cockfighting,  which is only a misdemeanor in Louisiana.

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(Beth Clifton collage)

ANIMALS 24-7 does not usually blow our own horns like this when someone says something nice about us,  but this public response from Amy Dickens of The Wild Truth,  below,  is so nice that we felt it should be shared with our readers & donors,  who make our work possible:

When Others Looked Away, ANIMALS 24-7 Looked at the Evidence

Thank you to Merritt & Beth Clifton.

We want to publicly thank Merritt and Beth Clifton at ANIMALS 24-7 for having the courage to examine the material we presented impartially and to publish about it.

They are the first to do so publicly. Here is their article:

(Beth Clifton collage)

The Wild Truth about wildlife videos & lack of humane jurisdiction

That matters, especially because much larger organizations, many of which claim to care deeply about animals, have declined even to respond to what we have shared,  let alone engage with it seriously.

Merritt and Beth did something simple but increasingly rare:  they looked at the material, asked questions,  and followed the evidence where it led.  Their article was not a reflexive endorsement,  but an independent editorial judgment based on scrutiny.

Their article also recognizes something central to this story:  this is not just about one disputed wildlife sequence.  It is about trust.  If wildlife scenes can be staged and presented as natural behavior,  and if animal suffering may be involved,  then the credibility of wildlife filmmaking itself is at stake.

And if organizations dedicated to protecting animals will not even assess credible concerns when they are put before them,  that raises difficult questions too.

We are grateful to Merritt and Beth for refusing to look away.  When larger institutions stayed silent,  they were willing to examine the evidence and speak publicly.

They were first.  We hope they will not be alone.

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

(Beth Clifton collage)

Who gives a damn?

The short version of what ANIMALS 24-7 is being praised for by The Wild Truth is just plain giving a damn––about the animals involved,  of course,  and about doing our work as investigative journalists with a sense of responsibility and pride in doing our job well,  whether any given article attracts tens or tens of thousands of readers.

The specific topic addressed by the allegations issued by The Wild Truth,  the use and misuse of animals in set-up predation sequences in documentary film making for popular entertainment,  may soon become a moot point,  as applied artificial intelligence evolves to replace much and perhaps most use of animals in screen productions.

But,  as The Wild Truth about wildlife videos & lack of humane jurisdiction pointed out,  the use and misuse of animals in screen productions has been an issue recognized by the humane community for at least 90 years now,  with relatively little being done about it recently by the national and international advocacy and regulatory entities that are paid to give a damn by donors and taxpayers.

(Beth Clifton collage)

Money talks

ANIMALS 24-7 understands that the $120 billion-a year global screen industry may look too big to monitor,  and sometimes fight in legislatures and courtrooms,  to the decision-makers at the big national and international animal advocacy groups.  The total cumulative net worth of the entire animal advocacy sector,  worldwide,  is somewhere under $1 billion.

And the lives and suffering of just a handful of rodents and reptiles,  inflicted by what appear to be at most just a few dozen screen production companies,  may not seem worth fighting for,  in cold,  hard cost/benefit calculations,  especially when the animal suffering involved in alleged staged predation sequences is compared to the suffering of 77 billion land animals per year slaughtered by the food industry,  plus many times that many fish.

The global meat,  fish,  and dairy industries,  worth $1.3 trillion per year,  is more than 1,000 times the size of the screen industry.

But that would appear to make problematic screen productions a relatively soft target to the largest players in the humane industry,  whose entire fundraising business model is structured around emotive appeals to prospective donors directed at what are––often erroneously––believed to be soft targets,  likely to yield quick “victories” to tout in follow-up appeals to the same donor lists.

Humane World for Animals president Kitty Block is at left, Donald Trump at right, with Humane World Legislative Fund president Sara Amundson directly behind Trump.
(Beth Clifton collage)

“Crush” videos vs. staged predation

Such strategic calculations were involved in the campaigns by several of the largest U.S. animal advocacy groups against so-called “crush” videos,  in which small animals are torturously killed for the gratification of sadistic perverts.

These campaigns brought the eventual passage of the 2019 PACT Act,  misleadingly billed by both the first and second Donald Trump administrations as a national humane law.  The PACT Act in truth exempts practically every possible use and misuse of animals for food,  sport,  or science,  including in screen production,  except for making or distributing “crush” videos in areas where there is some federal jurisdiction.

(See HSUS, Donald Trump, & the PACT Act: The Art of the Deal.)

From the animals’ perspective,  there is little difference between being tortured to death by and for sadistic perverts,  and being fed alive to a predator.

(Beth Clifton collage)

Does the gratification of sadistic perverts matter more than the mis-education of children?

From the humane perspective,  though,  the audience of sadistic perverts is fortunately very small,  compared to the audience,  including generations of children,  who may be mis-educated about animal behavior and nature by staged predation scenes.

Logically,  therefore,  the latter should be of at least equal concern.

Enough concern,  anyway,  to get humane executives to respond to serious,  documented allegations such as those issued by The Wild Truth with inquiries,  including referrals to film,  video,  and AI experts who can either authenticate or refute the claims made about what is shown.

Beth & Merritt Clifton.
(Daniel Leventhal photo)

Currently,  the many entities contacted by The Wild Truth and/or ANIMALS 24-7,  either or both,  appear to have just been passing the buck.

Which is what the makers,  distributors,  and broadcasters of the alleged staged predation scenes are counting on:  that the only place the bucks will ever stop is in their own pockets.

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(Beth Clifton collage)

Korean Air suspends rooster transport to the Philippines

SEOUL,  South Korea;  FANNIN COUNTY,  Georgia;  DAYTON,  Tennessee––Why is Korean Air more responsive to complaints about cockfighters,  at considerable monetary cost to itself,  than rural Southern sheriffs who are paid in part to stop cockfights?

“Korean Air has suspended rooster shipments on flights from the United States to the Philippines,  cutting off a key artery between American breeders and the world’s largest cockfighting industry,”  Dallas Morning News staff writer Tracey McManus revealed on April 28,  2026.

This,  wrote McManus,  “comes after the nonprofit Animal Wellness Action last year identified a Collin County,  Texas broker service with ties to cockfighting that shipped roosters from DFW International Airport to the Philippines on Korean Air,  declaring they were for breeding.

(Beth Clifton collage)

“Shipping gamefowl for breeding is legal”

“Transporting animals for fighting violates federal law,”  McManus explained,
“but shipping them for breeding is legal.

“A member of the North Texas Livestock Shipping Services,”  McManus recalled,  told her that “the 58 hens and roosters they sent in wooden crates through DFW Airport,” in an October 2025 transaction that McManus herself exposed,  “would be used for breeding,”  in the Philippines,  “but confirmed the offspring were destined for cockfighting.

“At the time,”  McManus said,  “Korean Air spokesperson Diane Yang said the airline had no way to determine how the animals on its planes would be used at their destination.

“Yang confirmed the airline suspended shipping roosters,”  McManus continued,  “but declined to answer how long the pause will be in place or whether it will extend to flights to other cockfighting hubs like Mexico and Thailand.”

(Beth Clifton collage)

“Significant breakthrough” says Pacelle

Animal Wellness Action president Wayne Pacelle called the Korean Air announcement “one of the most significant non-legislative breakthroughs we’ve ever secured in our quest to eradicate animal fighting in the United States and across the globe.

“After months of investigations,”  Pacelle said,  “and more recent inter-corporate engagement about our findings,  Korean Air — in our estimation,  the biggest global air carrier of illegally trafficked fighting birds — has agreed to our demand to halt all shipments of roosters to the Philippines.  The company’s U.S. lawyer has confirmed the change in policy to us.

“We are grateful to Korean Air,”  Pacelle continued,  “for giving us an audience and allowing us to present the mass of information revealing that the company was being rooked by U.S. cockfighters,  pretending to be ‘farmers’ and benign ‘breeders,’  but who have been supplying fighting birds to the Philippines every year by the tens of thousands and directly participating in the fights themselves.

(Beth Clifton collage)

Credited undercover work

“While cockfighters in the United States are the biggest global players in trafficking fighting birds,”  Pacelle said,  “the biggest consumers of U.S. fighting birds are Mexico and the Philippines.  Transports of the U.S.-reared birds to Mexico go by ground and air,  but all the birds fly across the Pacific and to the Philippines at 35,000 feet.

“By cutting off their main transporter — in one of the two major global hubs of fighting derbies — we are starving them of the commerce that fuels their organized crime network,”  Pacelle hoped.

“We know our work is not done,”  Pacelle admitted,  “and that’s why we are working to restrict international shipments of roosters by all airlines with flights originating in the United States.”

(Beth Clifton collage)

SHARK finds “Outright corruption”

Even as McManus of the Dallas Morning News and Pacelle of Animal Wellness Action celebrated the Korean Air decision to stop flying gamefowl,  Showing Animals Respect & Kindness [SHARK] emailed to supporters that,  “This weekend, our investigators were on the ground documenting illegal cockfighting operations across multiple states.  What we uncovered included not just animal cruelty, but also outright corruption.

“In Fannin County,  Georgia,”  Showing Animals Respect & Kindness said,  “we received reports that sheriff Dane Kirby was connected to the cockfighting we were investigating. As always, we approached this information cautiously.

“While corruption is often a reality,  we believe in giving law enforcement the benefit of the doubt,  until evidence proves otherwise.”

(Beth Clifton collage)

“Ain’t nobody here but us chickens”

On April 25,  2026,  however,  “a Showing Animals Respect & Kindness drone recorded a cockfight outside Mineral Bluff,  Georgia,”  in Fannin County.

“We reported the same place to the sheriff’s office a few months ago,”  Showing Animals Respect & Kindness recalled.

“Even more disturbing is that we were told the police went to the cockfight pit,”  on April 5,  2026,  “and there was nothing going on.

“The deputy who told [Showing Animals Respect & Kindness founder Steve Hindi] that lie sounded very surprised when he learned that Steve had watched the cockfighters live on a drone controller screen.  Some of the footage we recorded is now circulating publicly.

“And it unfortunately didn’t stop there.”

(Beth Clifton collage)

Same story in Rhea County,  Tennessee

The following day,  Showing Animals Respect & Kindness continued,  “Sheriff Mike Neal of Tennessee’s Rhea County Sheriff’s Department refused to take action on illegal cockfighting in Dayton,  Tennessee.

“One officer drove to the pit,  but didn’t even bother to get out of his vehicle.  He had a quick conversation with a cockfighter,  and went on his way.

“This is the third time SHARK has documented this property,  and every time the sheriff’s Department has completely failed to act.

“These oath-breakers deserve prison more than even the cockfighters,”  Showing Animals Respect & Kindness finished.

Rhea County Tennessee Sheriff Mike Neal.   (Rhea County photo)

Hindi requests “internal review”

Hindi followed up on April 29,  2026 by emailing to Neal,  “requesting an internal review of the repeated failure of the Rhea County Sheriff’s Department to stop an illegal cockfight on April 26, 2026 located on Montgomery Road,  Dayton,  Tennessee,”  at GPS coordinates 35.4930, -85.0719

“In spite of repeated calls to the sheriff’s department,”  Hindi wrote,  “and in spite of a sheriff’s vehicle showing up outside the cockfighting property,  the illegal activity was allowed to continue.  It should be noted that during the approximately one minute that the sheriff’s vehicle was at the property,  the driver never exited the vehicle.

“Information about illegal cockfights was also provided to the sheriff’s department on February 15, 2026,  and April 12, 2026,”  Hindi detailed.

“Those in the sheriff’s department who have been personally advised about the illegal cockfights include Deputy Swafford,  Deputy Scott,  and Sergeant Flory,”  Hindi listed.

(Beth Clifton collage)

Alabama county “now investigating,”  says WBRC television reporter

Similar messages from Hindi,  on behalf of Showing Animals Respect & Kindness,  meanwhile may have brought some results in Cullman County,  Alabama.

“Cullman County Animal Control is now investigating alleged animal cruelty after WBRC obtained drone video of what advocates say looked like an illegal cockfighting operation,”  reported Brady Talbert on April 23,  2025 for WBRC television news in Birmingham.

Talbert had investigated Hindi’s allegations that Cullman County sheriff Matt Gentry had not responded to tips about cockfights in progress in a timely manner.

“After calling two days in a row,”  Talbert said,  “WBRC visited the sheriff’s office for clarity where our team learned there is an alleged cockfighting investigation.

“No arrests have been made and Cullman County Animal Control is taking the lead.

“WBRC spoke to family of the property owner,”  Talbert added,  “who confirms they leased out the property for an event.  They did not want to go on camera but say the people on video,  obtained by Hindi,  “were there for a ‘poultry show’––not cockfighting.”

(Beth Clifton collage)

Drone video caught alleged cockfight

Showing Animals Respect & Kindness drone video on the morning of April 18,  2026,  as ANIMALS 24-7 reported earlier,   caught a steady stream of cockfighters carrying dead and dying roosters out of a metal-clad shed at the northeastern Cullman County location.

One man threw a wounded rooster into the back of a flatbed truck parked beside the building.  The rooster flopped and struggled there for several minutes.

About 50 cars and pickup trucks surrounded the building.

The Cullman County sheriff’s office was alerted,  but what happened was a blatant repeat of what happened when Showing Animals Respect & Kindness reported a cockfight in Cullman Count on the morning of April 20,  2023,  almost exactly three years earlier.

(See Sheriff ignores cockfight, rails against “liberal green energy agendas”.)

(Beth Clifton collage)

Nearly 100 carloads of cockfighters escaped

As on April 18,  2026,  a SHARK drone on April 20,  2023 discovered a cockfight in progress at a cockpit near Bug Tussle,  a Cullman County hamlet notorious for hosting cockfights for at least half a century.

Alerted by SHARK,  the Cullman County sheriff’s office responded,  more or less,  but not before nearly 100 carloads of cockfighters,  acting as if tipped off,  had adequate opportunity to suspend their activity and abscond,  with their gamefowl,  leaving only feathers,  tire tracks,  and of course the cockpit itself to show they ever were there.

Merritt & Beth Clifton with Henry the rooster.

(See Cullman County, Alabama: combatting cockfighting in a KKK stronghold.)

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Edgar Arellano Holguín aka Edgar Lara.
(Beth Clifton collage)

Busted as Edgar Lara,  cockfighter & murder suspect is known on TikTok as Edgar Arellano Holguin––& that isn’t all!

CAMERON,  Oklahoma––What better cover for a cockfighter-turned-cop-killer claiming association with a major Mexican drug-dealing cartel than a dual identity?

What better cover for a cockfighting derby than to call it a fundraiser for a murdered cop’s family––and to falsely claim that the dual identity of the cockfighter-turned-cop-killer was as an informant for Showing Animals Respect & Kindness [SHARK]?

Some cockfighters and even some sheriff’s deputies in LeFlore County,  Oklahoma might believe the “informant” story,  but the actual dual identity of accused cockfighter-turned-cop-killer Edgar Lara,  36,  was and is Edgar Arellano Holguin,  @edgar.lara282 on TikTok.

Will the real Edgar Arellano Holguin aka Edgar Lara please stand up?

“Informant” informed on himself

As a purported informant,   and as a cockfighter for that matter,  Edgar Lara also known as Edgar Arellano Holguin was completely unknown to Showing Animals Respect & Kindness until after he allegedly fatally shot LeFlore County sheriff’s deputy Walker LeMay on April 19,  2026.

But Edgar Arellano Holguin informed on himself in TikTok videos in which he displayed his dual identity as Edgar Lara.  Holguin also posted multiple videos showing off his gamecocks and his guns.

Holguin further claimed in TikTok videos that notorious convicted Mexican drug trafficker Eduardo Arellano Félix,  69,  serving a 15-year prison sentence since 2013,  deported to a Mexican prison in 2021,  is his “blood father,”  and that Ramón Arellano Félix (1964-2002),  involved in at least 20 murders,  was his uncle.

Eduardo Arellano Félix (left) and Edgar Arellano Holgun aka Lara (right).

Boasts of drug-trafficking kin

Ramón Arellano Félix died in a shootout with police bearing some resemblance to the killing of Walker LeMay.

One key difference,  though,  is that the police officer who died in the shootout with Ramón Arellano Félix managed to fire the bullet that killed Ramón Arellano Félix as his final act.

Wikipedia identifies Eduardo Arellano Félix,  Holguin’s claimed father,  as “brother of Benjamín,  Ramón, Javier and sister,  Enedina,  all drug traffickers.

“The Arellano-Félix Organization,”  says the Wikipedia entry,  “also known as the Tijuana Cartel,  has been responsible for numerous murders and the smuggling of thousands of tons of marijuana, cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine.”

But according to a LeFlore County sheriff’s office affidavit,  Edgar Arellano Holguin,  known to them at the time only as Edgar Lara,  is actually the son of Miguel Lara,  of Wister,  Oklahoma.

Edgar Arellano Holguin aka Edgar Lara with gamecock.

Pulled gun on father before killing sheriff’s deputy

Miguel Lara,  says the affidavit,  on April 19, 2026 “contacted law enforcement requesting for them to remove Edgar from Miguel’s property.”

Miguel Lara,  reported Reagan Ledbetter for KOTV news in Tulsa,  told the sheriff’s office “that his son Edgar Lara pulled a gun on him and forced him from his home.  The man told deputies Lara had been staying there for a few weeks,  and he wanted Lara gone.

“Deputy Walker LeMay went to the house first,  by himself,”  recounted Ledbetter,  “and talked to [Edgar] Lara.  LeMay noticed Lara had two guns, so he left,  called in back up,  and they made a plan to have officers and deputies drive up the 400-yard driveway together,  but before they got to the house,  the shots started and didn’t stop for hours.

“Deputy LeMay was killed returning fire.”

The Poteau Pit.
(SHARK photo)

The Poteau Pit

Fast-forward one day short of two weeks.

Posted Showing Animals Respect & Kindness to Facebook,  “Today our team is at a new cockpit at 13299 Red Barn Road in Cameron,  Oklahoma.  This pit,”  called the Poteau Pit,  “is in Le Flore County,  which is a well-known corrupt county when it comes to law enforcement.”   Showing Animals Respect & Kindness charged.

“The Le Flore county sheriffs have been called several times over the last few years,”   Showing Animals Respect & Kindness said,  “all leading to no action from them.

“Today,”  the Showing Animals Respect & Kindness post continued,  “we need the power of our supporters to call and tell these corrupt sheriffs how important it is that they get out there and shut this pit down!

(Beth Clifton collage)

“Cockfighting is a felony in Oklahoma”

“Cockfighting is a felony in Oklahoma,”  Showing Animals Respect & Kindness reminded,  carrying potential penalties of “up to 10 years in jail and a $25,000 fine.  But laws are meaningless without enforcement.

“Remind the sheriffs it is their responsibility to enforce the law.

“There are 100+ vehicles,  that’s a lot of potential felonies at this location,”  Showing Animals Respect & Kindness detailed,  “sitting on hundreds of thousands of dollars of illegal gambling money.  Plus there are children at this fight!  That is illegal as well.”

Showing Animals Respect & Kindness drone video surveillance confirmed the number of vehicles parked around the alleged cockpit,  the presence of children,  and men carrying roosters in and out of the building.

(Beth Clifton collage)

Deputies were “too busy” to stop cockfight

Most indicatively,  an eight-minute segment of the Showing Animals Respect & Kindness surveillance video showed the attendees discovering the SHARK Facebook posting,  calling others over to see it,  and then rapidly absconding the scene.

“The cockfight at the Johnson property started at noon,”  recounted the Showing Animals Respect & Kindness event report.

“Drop cages,  men carrying fighting roosters,  and many cockhouse trailers were spotted. SHARK called in to report the cockfight at 12:40 p.m . and [the LeFlore County Sheriff’s Office] dispatcher recorded the call.

“Soon afterward,  deputies reported that they were too busy to check on the cockfight and that it would be at least 2.5 hours before they could.

Edgar Arellano Holguin aka Edgar Lara posted this photo of his guns to TikTok.

“Driving out in a mad rush”

“At this time SHARK posted a photo of the cockfighting event on their Facebook page,  which cockfighters are known to monitor.  Minutes later, men began fleeing from the pit and rapidly driving out of the property in a mad rush.

“It wasn’t until almost 5:00 p.m. that an officer reportedly went to check on the location–– long after everyone had fled,”  SHARK added.

Meanwhile,  property owner Rich Johnson posted to Facebook,  at 3:07 p.m.,   “Big thanks to everyone who turned out for the Poultry Show today.  Between the auction and donations we raised $8,700 which we will deliver to the family of fallen officer Walker LeMay!”

Other suspected participants commenting on the SHARK photo,  however,  seemed to disagree about the nature of the event.

(Beth Clifton collage)

“It’s a bird!  It’s a plane!  It’s Rooster Man!”

Said Alfredo Gallardo,  “I don’t see no chickens.  Looks like a car auction to me.”

Offered Jose Rodriguez and Joann Wheeler,  “It’s a birthday party.”

Said someone using the screen name Cross Hatch,  “What’s the issue?  It’s a family wedding.”

Countered Buddy Brock,  “That’s an auction.  Vehicles,  furniture, and antiques.”

Several other commenters chimed in that in their opinion,  cockfighting should be legal;  issued threats against Showing Animals Respect & Kindness;  and remonstrated with others for giving away that the discussion was about an alleged cockfight.

Busted for cockfighting: Gary Bauman, Chance Campo, John Gliby, Son Nguyen, Phillip Sanders, and Larry Young.
(Carter County Jail photo)

Chance Campo started “informant” rumor

Beneath Rich Johnson’s post,  on his string,  Chance Campo asked about Walker LeMay,  “Is that the deputy that was shot and killed by the informant for SHARK?”

Chance Campo,  of Lone Grove, Oklahoma,  was charged in July 2023 in Carter County with servicing or facilitating a cockfight. Arrested as the result of a June 19,  2023 cockfighting bust,  he subsequently resigned as a district director of the now legally dissolved Oklahoma Gamefowl Commission.

(See Oklahoma Gamefowl Commission cofounder Anthony Devore convicted.)

“Carter County District Attorney Melissa Handke dismissed a felony case against Campo on February 22,  2024.  The next day,  Campo pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor count of being a spectator for a cockfight.  He was given a two-year deferred sentence and ordered to pay a $500 fine,”  updated Nondoc.com editor Michael McNutt on January 1,  2025.

Richard Johnson.

The RJ Event Center LLC

According to an Animal Wellness Action investigative report,  the site of the alleged May 2,  2026 cockfight “is listed as property of the RJ Event Center LLC,  which is owned by Richard Johnson.

“Contiguous blocks of property which were used for accessing the [alleged] cockfight are property of the Johnson Richard L Living Trust.  On part of that property,  Mr. Johnson has a gamefowl farm,”  the Animal Wellness Action investigative report charges,  “where he raises approximately 50 to 100 roosters of the specific breeds used in cockfighting.

“The RJ Event Center, LLC,”  the Animal Wellness Action investigative report continues, “is a Domestic Limited-Liability Company organized under the laws of the State of Oklahoma on June 30, 2022.

“The Registered Agent on file is Richard L Johnson,”  who is also “the sole principal on record.”

(Beth Clifton collage)

Johnson Materials

“Richard Johnson is the owner of Johnson Materials in Cameron,  Oklahoma,”  the Animal Wellness Acion investigative report adds.

“Johnson Materials is a Domestic for Profit Business Corporation organized under the laws of the State of Oklahoma,  on February 26, 2004.

“Richard moved to Cameron from Alaska in 1985.  He is a member of the Cameron Public School Board,”  the Animal Wellness Action investigative report notes.

ANIMALS 24-7 has record of a “Rich Johnson” commenting on media coverage of recent cockfighting busts in the Texoma region of northern Texas and southern Oklahoma.

(Beth Clifton collage)

Michigan cockfighter convicted

The events in LeFlore County,  Oklahoma overshadowed the April 21,  2026 conviction of cockfighter Jesse Gamino,  57,  in Paw Paw,  Michigan,  as result of an earlier Showing Animals Respect & Kindness investigation.

Reported WilcoxNewspapers.com contributing writer Elizabeth Ferszt,  “According to the Van Buren County Prosecutor’s Office,  defendant Jesse Gamino pleaded guilty to one count of animal fighting.

“Gamino agreed to forfeit all animals,  weapons,  and related equipment allegedly ‘used to hurt birds’ in exchange for the plea deal, according to the prosecutor,”  Ferszt detailed.

“In addition to his pending sentence,  Gamino must pay restitution to Hidden Acres Safe Haven,  an animal rescue outfit in Dowagiac,  Michigan,   that took in forty abused roosters allegedly used for cockfighting at Gamino’s house.

Edin Dilson Rodas,  of Hopkins Township,  Michigan.  See Cocks of the walk: cockfighters avoid jail in Michigan & Oklahoma.  (Facebook photos)

“Much like what happened in Hopkins”

“The original charges included five felonies,”  Ferszt mentioned.  Currently,  Gamino is out on a personal recognizance bond,  but faces a sentencing hearing on May 26,  2026,  in front of Hon. Kathleen Brickley,  a judge in the 36th circuit.”

Objected Showing Animals Respect & Kindness campaigns director Jodie Wiederkehr,  “Gamino should not have been allowed to plea,  and should have been made to give up the names of the others who were there.”

Merritt & Beth Clifton with Henry the rooster.

Observed Ferszt,  “Apparently,  other alleged cockfighters all fled during the raid” that nabbed Gamino,  “much like what happened in an October 2025 cockfighting incident in Hopkins Township in Allegan county,  leaving 36 birds dead and only one person arrested and charged.”

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(Beth Clifton collage)

Cop apparently tried to forge documents to get witness deported as alleged illegal alien

GULFPORT,  Mississippi––Confirmation of probable collusion between cockfighters and elements of law enforcement surfaced in Gulfport,  Mississippi on June 1,  2026,  days after major cockfighting busts in Mississippi,  Pennsylvania,  and Virginia.

U.S. Federal Court magistrate judge Bradley Rath denied bond for Hammond,  Louisiana police officer Denver Keith Golmon,   reported Margaret Baker for the Biloxi Sun Herald,   “pending indictment and trial on federal allegations that he retaliated against a witness in a cockfighting investigation in Bay St. Louis and Gulfport.

“During the hearing,”  Baker continued,  “a Homeland Security Investigations agent testified that Golmon retaliated against a confidential informant by soliciting Hammond officers assigned to immigration enforcement task forces to arrest the informant for an [alleged] immigration violation.

Denver Golmon.  (Beth Clifton collage)

Uncle is convicted cockfighter

“Golmon’s connection to the cockfighting investigation,”  Baker detailed,  “stemmed from his alleged participation in matches with his uncle,  Bert Lester,  who was arrested in February 2025 and later convicted for his role in cockfighting derbies held in Harrison County.

“The agent testified that several of Golmon’s gamecocks participated in the matches,”  Baker summarized,  “although Golmon did not attend the derby where his uncle and others were arrested.”

Golmon,  according to Homeland Security Investigations,  identified suspected cockfighting informants through the National Crime Information Center database.

(Beth Clifton collage)

Could get 10 years in prison

Judge Rath heard testimony that Golmon also “ran people’s names and Social Security numbers through the National Crime Information Center system to determine what information was available,  allegedly for the purpose of creating fraudulent immigration documents for undocumented immigrants,”  Baker added.

Golmon,  wrote Baker,  “is being held on a criminal complaint charging him with retaliating against a confidential informant,”  which could bring Golmon “up to 10 years in prison and [a fine of] up to $250,000,  plus additional time in prison if he is given an enhanced penalty because he committed the crimes as a law enforcement officer.”

(Beth Clifton collage)

108 alleged cockfighters busted in Mississippi

At least 49 suspects were arrested in connection with cockfighting derbies in Gulfport and Bay St. Louis,  Baker mentioned.

Another 59 cockfighting suspects were nabbed on May 31,  2026 in Chickasaw County,  Mississippi,  almost as far from the Gulfport and Bay St. Louis busts as it is possible to go and remain within Mississippi.

Reported Desmone Mathews for WAPT in Jackson,  Mississippi,  “Investigators and deputies seized approximately 164 fighting roosters, $84,000 in U.S. currency,  14 firearms,  suspected Schedule I narcotics,  13 trailers,  multiple vehicles and substantial evidence linked to organized cockfighting.

“The investigation revealed that participants and spectators traveled from Louisiana,  Tennessee,  Arkansas,  Alabama and various locations across Mississippi to attend the event.”

(Beth Clifton collage)

Property owner turned himself in

“In addition to the fighting birds,”  Mathews recounted,  “authorities confiscated equipment and materials used to facilitate cockfighting,  including transport trailers,  fighting implements,  training devices,  medications,  performance-enhancing substances,  scales,  tethering equipment,  breeding records and other items commonly associated with organized cockfighting.”

Assisting the Chickasaw County Sheriff’s Office with the bust were the Mississippi Department of Wildlife,  Fisheries & Parks,  Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics, Federal Bureau of Investigation,  U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement [ICE],  U.S. Department of Agriculture,  Mississippi Board of Animal Health,  and Humane World for Animals,  Mathews said.

Property owner Jack Standfield,  updated the Mississippi Clarion Ledger on June 2, 2026, “turned himself in on June 1,  2026,   admitting to investigators that he allowed the cockfighters to use his land.  Bond for Standfield was set at $3,500.

(Beth Clifton collage)

Virginia & Pennsylvania bust cockfighters too

The May 31,  2026 Mississippi cockfighting bust closely followed cockfighting-related busts in Spotsylvania,  Virginia on May 29,  and Chester,  Pennsylvania on May 30.

Spotsylvania County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Delbert Myrick told media that 21 roosters,  26 hens,  and 80 juvenile chicks were impounded,  along with a Great Pyrenees dog,  from a home believed by the Virginia Animal Fighting Task Force to be “connected to a cockfighting ring.”

Charges associated with the raid have yet to be announced.

A day later,  WPVI television news in Philadelphia disclosed,  25 suspects were arrested at a cockfight in Chester.

“Fifty-two live chickens and three deceased roosters were recovered,  according to the Pennsylvania SPCA,”  WPVI mentioned.

(Beth Clifton collage)

“Same tired excuses”

Drone investigations by Showing Animals Respect & Kindness [SHARK] in 2019 in Kentucky can be credited with sparking increased anti-cockfighting law enforcement nationwide,  largely because drone video repeatedly proved cockfights were underway while local sheriff’s offices insisted otherwise.

Showing Animals Respect & Kindness undercover video also repeatedly documented the presence of off-duty officers providing security at cockfights.

But even as the busts went down in Mississippi,  Virginia,  and Pennsylvania,  Showing Animals Respect & Kindness initially reported getting “the same tired excuses” from the Baldwin,  Alabama county sheriff’s office on May 30,  2026,  after reporting an “active cockfight underway at a rural location between Bay Minette and Perdido,  near the western border of Florida.

Blossom the dog helps SHARK founder Steve Hindi to sniff out cockfights.
(Beth Clifton collage)

SHARK tone changed three days later

A few days later,  though,  a Showing Animals Respect & Kindness update was much more upbeat.

“We sent a SHARK drone to a cockfight pit near Perdido, Alabama that has a notorious history of more than twenty years of cruelty and death,”  Showing Animals Respect & Kindness said.  “Now the Baldwin County Sheriff’s Department has begun an investigation that will lead to the permanent termination of this criminal enterprise, because we won’t let go of it until it is gone forever.

“We also called police in Franklin County,  Alabama about another long-standing pit which we will see taken down.

“Finally,  we called the Kentucky State Police about an active cockfight in Kentucky,  and they moved in,  filing charges against the landowner,”  SHARK said,  acknowledging that,  “We need to confirm this.”

Apparently hellbent on getting themselves busted,  or at least investigated,  at least 48 alleged cockfighters identified themselves by name in social media comments responding to the Showing Animals Respect & Kindness messages.

Wayne Pacelle.
(Beth Clifton collage)

$2 million for animal fighting law enforcement

Animal Wellness Action and Center for a Humane Economy president Wayne Pacelle was meanwhile optimistic,  he emailed to ANIMALS 24-7,  that “$2 million in dedicated funding for animal fighting enforcement” will be included in a pending budget bill,  H.R. 8646,  the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agency Appropriations Act, 2027.

The allocation was designated on June 2,  2026 by Congressional Representatives Vern Buchanan,  a Republican from Florida,  and Troy Carter,  a Democrat from Louisiana.

A rare cockfighting bust in Connecticut,  Pacelle’s home state,  on May 18,  2026 brought a reported 100 arrests,  including of property owners Elvin Miranda,  59,  and Lisa Miranda,  66,  who were presumably read their “Miranda rights” before being charged with cruelty to animals, professional gambling, operating a gambling premise, and risk of injury to a minor.

The Connecticut State Police reported seizing about $90,000 from the Miranda property in Tolland,  in northeastern Connecticut.

The Connecticut Department of Agriculture impounded 273 birds,  who “were ‘euthanized due to their deteriorated conditions,’  police said,”  reported Jennifer Lambert for WVIT in Hartford.

(Beth Clifton collage)

Bullfighting ban in Colombia to stop cockfighting too

Anticipating a national cockfighting ban coming into effect in Colombia in 2028,  the Dutch-based anti-blood sports organization CAS International [Comité Anti Stierenvechten],  founded in 1993,  on May 28,  2026  released undercover video of “what happens inside seven cockfighting arenas and right breeding facilities for fighting roosters across different regions” of Colombia.

“Field investigators infiltrated cockfighting arenas — known as ‘galleras’ — and breeding farms where roosters are raised exclusively for fighting,”  CAS International explained in a media release.

The pending Colombian cockfighting ban comes as an extension,  CAS International detailed,  of the law known as ‘No Más Olé’ passed by the Colombian legislature in 2024,  “establishing the end of bullfighting in the country. The law introduced a three-year transition period to phase out these types of spectacles.

(See Colombian top court upholds bans on bullfights, cockfights & steer-tailing.)

Steer tailing.  (Beth Clifton collage)

Same law bans steer-tailing

“In September 2025,”  the CAS International media release continued,  “Colombia’s Constitutional Court confirmed the constitutionality of the ban on bullfighting and expanded its scope to also include the cruel events known as corralejas [amateur bullfighting],  coleo [steer-tailing],  and cockfighting throughout the country.  The ban established by this ruling will come into force in 2028.

“Supporters of cockfighting are currently trying to prevent the implementation of the law and weaken the protections achieved for animals,”  CAS International said.

“That is why continuing to expose the reality of cockfighting is so important.”

(Beth Clifton collage)

Queensland anti-animal fighting task force dismantled

But even as Colombia moves to end cockfighting,  Australian Broadcasting Corporation investigative reporter Eden Gillespie on May 10,  2026 revealed that no criminal charges associated with either cockfighting or dogfighting have been filed in Queensland state since July 2022,  not because cockfighting and dogfighting have stopped,  but because animal fighters apparently succeeded in dismantling the law and law enforcement task force that formerly brought cockfighters and dogfighters to justice.

“Changes to the Animal Care & Protection Act,”  Gillespie explained,  “require the Queensland Police and the RSPCA to seek permission from the Department of Primary Industries before prosecuting” alleged animal fighting offenses.

“The dog fighting and cockfighting unit was formed in 2017 and sat within RSPCA Queensland,  staffed by three officers,”  Gillespie said.

(Beth Clifton collage)

Seized 56 pit bulls & charged 15 defendants

The anti-animal fighting unit led a 2018 raid resulting in the seizure of 56 pit bulls,  reportedly the first dogfighting bust in Queensland in more than a decade.

“In the 2020-21 fiscal year,”  Gillespie continued,  “15 defendants faced 63 charges,”  in connection with animal fighting.

In the 2021-2022 fiscal year,  however,  only six animal fighting charges were filed,  against two defendants,  Gillespie reported,  “according to data from Queensland’s Department of Justice.”

Meanwhile,  “An Australian Broadcasting Corporation investigation in 2025 uncovered international links between the underground world of dog fighting and Australia,”  Gillespie recounted.

One dogfighter caught on camera “boasted that he had killed ‘more dogs than parvovirus.'”

(Beth Clifton collage)

RSPCA still kept from pursuing animal fighting

In February 2026,  Gillespie noted,  the Animal Care & Protection Act was amended “so that the Queensland Police Service could independently prosecute under the Act again.”

However,  “The RSPCA still needs permission from the Department of Primary Industries to prosecute offenses,”  Gillespie said.

“Two former RSPCA inspectors told the Australian Broadcasting  Corporation that in 2022 they were told by the department not to investigate dog fighting and to refer matters to police,”  Gillespie recalled.

“In 2021,  the same year the animal fighting unit concluded,”  Gillespie added, “there were media reports that a man was sacked from RSPCA Queensland after having a sexual relationship with a woman who was under investigation for alleged involvement in dog fighting.”

Gillespie noted finally that,  “In Queensland,  organizing and participating in dog fighting carries a maximum penalty of one year’s imprisonment or a $50,070 fine.

Merritt & Beth Clifton with Henry the rooster.

“That is below the maximum penalty for animal cruelty,  which is three years’ imprisonment or $333,800.”

At that,  Gillespie mentioned,  “The people behind several of the state’s most high-profile dog fighting cases have served less than half of the maximum penalty behind bars.”

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(Beth Clifton collage)

Will Kroger treat newly acquired Giant Eagle like egg suppliers’ laying hens?

CINCINNATI,  Ohio––Kroger (rhymes with ogre),  the 143-year-old,  2,800-store second largest grocery store chain in the U.S.,  with 8.5% market share,  trailing only Walmart,  stole food and business media headlines nationwide on July 1,  2026 by announcing a $1.65 billion deal to acquire the 208-store Giant Eagle chain.

That kind money tends to grab attention,  but if the Kroger credit rating depended on keeping animal welfare promises,  all it might buy would be the giant bird from the estimated 15 million laying hens used to produce the 4.3 billion eggs per year sold through Kroger stores.

“In 2016,”  recalled a June 23,  2026 International Council for Animal Welfare media release,  “Kroger pledged to eliminate the cage confinement of egg-laying hens by switching to an all cage-free egg supply.  But the company later broke that promise,  and now continues allowing extreme confinement that crams birds together so tightly,  they spend their entire lives without enough room to even spread their wings.

(Beth Clifton collage)

“Food,  water,  & air”

“Facing recent criticism over the decision,”  the International Council for Animal Welfare media release continued,  “Kroger released a statement on May 13,  2026 claiming its suppliers ‘work hard to maintain a high standard of care for laying hens,’  but also stating that the company believes animals only need ‘food, water and air’ to be healthy.

“Investigative work into facilities supplying Kroger began shortly after that statement,”  the International Council for Animal Welfare media release explained,  “with [undercover video] footage taken between May 18 and 25 [2026] at Trillium Farms in Croton,  Ohio,  Automated Egg in North Manchester,  Indiana,  and Hi-Grade Egg Producers in Manchester,  Indiana.

“Using USDA packing codes,  eggs from these exact facilities were traced back to multiple Kroger locations,”  the International Council for Animal Welfare said,  “including a Kroger store directly across the street from the company’s corporate headquarters in Cincinnati.”

(Beth Clifton collage)

Maggots & ooze

The video footage,  the International Council for Animal Welfare media release detailed,  shows “birds forced to live literally on top of the rotting,  mummified carcasses of their dead cage-mates;  birds trapped in their cage wires unable to reach even food and water; insect and rodent infestations;  birds so diseased and injured they were barely alive;  and dead birds everywhere — including,  in one case,  in some kind of watery pit where they were left to rot,  covered in maggots and ooze.”

Said International Council for Animal Welfare chief executive Chrystine Liptrot,  “This disturbing footage shows exactly what happens when a giant corporation believes animals only need food,  water,  and air to live a healthy life.”

Despite the grandiose name,  the Philadelphia-based International Council for Animal Welfare is actually a relatively new and small organization formed in 2024 by Liptrot and Katie Schloer,  both former employees of the also Philadelphia-based Humane League,  with 2024 revenue of $2,021,293 according to IRS Form 990.

(Beth Clifton collage)

Marriott broke cage-free pledge too

The International Council for Animal Welfare in late 2025 released “a long-form investigation created in partnership with psycho-criminologist and true crime investigator Sonya Lwu.

“Over the past several months,”  the International Council for Animal Welfare announced then,  “her team examined Marriott’s 12-year failure to meet its global cage-free egg commitments — a delay with real consequences for millions of hens still confined in cruel battery cages.”

(Beth Clifton collage)

Kitty Block howls

Kitty Block,  chief executive of the $207-million-per-year Humane World for Animals,  formerly the Humane Society of the U.S.,  joined the International Council for Animal Welfare in figuratively heaving rotten eggs at Kroger on July 2,  2026,  one day after the Giant Eagle acquisition was disclosed.

“It’s official,”  blogged Block.  “Major grocery chain Kroger has failed to meet its public commitment to consumers to sell eggs sourced only from cage-free hens by 2025.  The company refuses to enact a new policy on moving toward a 100% cage-free egg pledge.

“Kroger’s inaction is unacceptable,”  Block declared,  reminding readers that as well as owning Kroger-branded stores,  and now Giant Eagle,   Kroger owns “locations branded under the Harris Teeter,  Mariano’s,  Ralphs,  Fry’s,  Smith’s and Dillons names.”

Other Kroger-owned chains include Fred Meyer,  King Soopers,  Food 4 Less,  QFC,  Pick ‘n Save,  City Market,  Home Chef,  The Little Clinic,  and Roundy’s.

(Beth Clifton collage)

Korean Air circumvents pledge to quit flying gamefowl to the Philippines

Kroger,  headquartered in Cincinnati,  Ohio,  is literally far from the only corporation called out on July 2,  2026 for breaking promises on behalf of poultry:  6,808 miles,  to be exact,  from the Korean Air global headquarters in Seoul,  South Korea.

“Just two months ago,  we lauded Korean Air,”  opened Animal Wellness Action and Center for a Humane Economy president Wayne Pacelle.

“After we presented the company with the results of our undercover investigations,”  Pacelle reminded,  “the airline agreed to stop accepting shipments of live roosters raised in the United States and shipping them to the Philippines to die in staged knife fights in cockfighting arenas.

Wayne Pacelle.  (Beth Clifton collage)

“We took the company at its word”

“We took the company at its word,”  Pacelle said,  “that it was an unwitting transporter in a $100-million-a-year illegal trade in cockfighting birds between the two nations.”

Korean Air executives in Seoul,  Pacelle recounted,  “after originally reviewing the evidence our investigators assembled,  told us they’d stop shipping birds on flights originating from Dallas, Los Angeles,  or Atlanta and bound for Manila.

“We told you that the company was acting as a responsible corporate citizen by divorcing itself from this barbaric, illegal trade,”  Pacelle said.  “But we also warned the company that cockfighters would look for another route.

“Our investigators,”  Pacelle disclosed,  ” have now documented that traffickers are shipping birds on Korean Air flights from the United States to Vietnam and then transferring them to a different airline for the final hop to the Philippines.

(Beth Clifton collage)

“Routing changed.  Commerce did not.”

“We have provided Korean Air with the evidence that American cockfighters are still using its cargo services to supply fighting birds to the Philippine pits despite its earlier commitment,”  Pacelle said.

“The routing changed.  The illicit commerce did not.

“If it’s wrong to ship fighting birds to Manila,”  Pacelle explained,  “then it’s just as wrong to ship them to Ho Chi Minh City and then hand them over to a second airline to complete the illicit transaction.

“We’re calling on Korean Air to get out of the cockfighting transport business entirely.”

Blossom the dog helped SHARK founder Steve Hindi to sniff out at least one cockfight.
(Beth Clifton collage)

“Still hunting thugs”

Here in the U.S.,  Showing Animals Respect & Kindness [SHARK] emailed on July 1,  2026, “Cockfighting season is winding down,  but we are still hunting these thugs.

“Last Saturday,”  SHARK continued,  “our team was in Bryant,  Alabama.  We saw live birds carried into the fighting pit,  and dead birds being dropped,  like garbage,  on the ground outside the pit.

“We called the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office,  who did nothing.  But we have since been interviewed by a couple of local TV news stations.  Media attention is an important part of these battles.  We bring to light the corruption,  and illegal fights happening in communities’ back yards.

“Southern states don’t typically take these matters seriously,”  SHARK observed,  “so we have to stay after them, and inform local citizens of the criminals being ignored by the police.”

(Beth Clifton collage)

Alabama sheriff calls for better laws

Showing Animals Respect & Kindness investigations do seem to be having some effect,  even in Deep South Alabama.

Reported Shoals News,  of Muscle Shoals, Alabama,  on June 19,  2026,  “Colbert County sheriff Eric Balentine recently briefed the County Commission on an ongoing investigation into suspected cockfighting operations within the area.

“The sheriff’s office has been monitoring the situation for about six weeks,”  Shoals News said.  “While deputies have successfully gained access to the private property on two occasions, they found no direct evidence of active fighting,  such as blood,  carcasses,  or gambling money.  Because the suspected activity takes place in a barn shielded from public view,  gathering sufficient proof remains difficult.  Deputies are also restricted from using drones for surveillance,”  unlike Showing Animals Respect & Kindness,  which makes extensive use of drones as private citizens,  “and must have legal justification to enter the premises.

Phenix City is home of the Alabama Gamefowl Breeders Association.
(Beth Clifton collage)

Alabama classifies cockfighting as a misdemeanor

“Current Alabama law makes enforcement difficult,”  Shoals News continued.  “Cockfighting is classified as a misdemeanor with a maximum fine of only $50.  By contrast,  dogfighting is treated as a Class C felony,  which carries much steeper penalties.

Sheriff Balentine called for cockfighting to be legally reclassified “as a form of animal cruelty to allow for more severe punishment,”  Shoals News said.

Cockfighting east of the Mississippi River and south of the Mason-Dixon line tends to involve mostly “good old boys” of Anglo descent and deep local family connections.

West of the Mississippi,  except in Oklahoma,  where cockfighters and gamefowl breeders mostly fit the southern profile,  cockfighters are overwhelmingly Hispanic,  and cockfights are increasingly more likely to be raided,  with a high probability of law enforcement finding illegal aliens to fill deportation quotas.

(Beth Clifton collage)

Nevada & Texas busts

Among recent busts,  Nye County,  Nevada law enforcement on May 27,  2026 arrested alleged Pahrump cockfighting promoters Jorge Guzman Torres,  Grisel Juarez Diaz,  and Ignacio Juarez Gomez,  impounding nearly 500 birds,  cockfighting paraphernalia,  “a rifle,  cash and 11 counterfeit identity documents,  including seven Social Security cards and four Nevada driver’s licenses,”  reported Victoria Saha for KVVU television in Henderson,  Nevada.

Alleged cockfighter Arnulfo Arizmendi,  41,  of Monte Alto in Hidalgo County,  Texas,  “was booked into the Hidalgo County jail on June 1,  2026,”  reported Melissa Brandi Share for KGRV radio,  “after the Hidalgo County Sheriff’s Office found a makeshift cockfighting ring on his property.

Explained Share,  “The sheriff’s office says a Texas Department of Public Safety helicopter spotted a large gathering of vehicles at a ranch near Monte Alto.  When deputies arrived, they searched a warehouse on the property.

(Beth Clifton collage)

Two suspects busted in Oklahoma City

“We found roosters.  We found a dead rooster in a trash can.  We found some blood in one of the cages,”  Hidalgo County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Raul Gonzalez told Share.

“Deputies also found blades believed to have been used in the fights.  Witnesses told authorities they were charged $20 to watch,”  Share added.

Two suspected cockfighters were even busted in Oklahoma City,  reported Meghan Mosley for KOCO television on June 15,  2026,  “after a traffic stop led to the discovery of bloodied roosters in their car.

Merritt & Beth Clifton with Henry the rooster.

“Police said the passenger admitted they had taken the birds to a cockfighting event held behind a house in southwest Oklahoma City,”  Mosley summarized.

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