Cockfighters Lose Last-Gasp Bid to Resume Cockfighting in New Mexico

December 20, 2007

LOVINGTON, N.M. — Animal welfare advocates hail yesterday afternoon's court decision to uphold New Mexico's cockfighting ban. The decision by the New Mexico Fifth Judicial District Court is a blow to cockfighters and their trade organization, the New Mexico Gamefowl Breeders Association. The ruling effectively ends any hope the cockfighters may have had for continuing their blood sport in the state of New Mexico.

"We commend Judge William McBee for rejecting the cockfighters' end-run around the democratic process and congratulate the Attorney General for succeeding in his efforts enforce this important new law," said Heather Greenhood, legislative director of Animal Protection of New Mexico. "The people of New Mexico have decided that cockfighting has no place in our state, and no amount of legal wrangling will change that."

Animal Protection of New Mexico (APNM) and The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) helped defend the ban by filing a friend of the court brief in support of the state of New Mexico. In its ruling, the court rejected the cockfighters' request to continue cockfighting while their case winds through the courts. The court also dismissed each and every one of their challenges to the new law.

This has been a banner year for eradicating illegal animal fighting. The HSUS worked with animal advocates to push for successful state laws banning cockfighting in New Mexico and Louisiana, the last two states that allowed the practice. Additionally, when President Bush signed a new federal anti-animal fighting law last May, The HSUS capped a six-year campaign in Congress to upgrade the federal penalties for illegal dogfighting and cockfighting from misdemeanor to felony status.

APNM and The HSUS were represented in the case by lawyers with The HSUS's Animal Protection Litigation Section and Lynn Barnhill of Santa Fe, New Mexico.       

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The Humane Society of the United States is the nation's largest animal protection organization — backed by 10 million Americans, or one of every 30. For more than a half-century, The HSUS has been fighting for the protection of all animals through advocacy, education, and hands-on programs. Celebrating animals and confronting cruelty—On the web at humanesociety.org.