(Beth Clifton collage)
Was the Louisiana H5N1 victim a cockfighter?
BATON ROUGE, Louisiana; DUNNVILLE, Kentucky; CHENAI, India–– The biggest cockfighting bust in years in rural Kentucky went down near Dunnville on January 4, 2025, but reports about it were upstaged within 48 hours by the Louisiana Department of Health announcement on January 6, 2025 that “The patient who had been hospitalized with the first severe human case of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI), or H5N1, in Louisiana and the USA has died.
“The patient was over the age of 65,” the Louisiana Department of Health said, “and was reported to have underlying medical conditions,” but offered nothing specific about the victim’s identity.
(Beth Clifton collage)
“Non-commercial backyard flock”
“The patient contracted H5N1 after exposure to a combination of a non-commercial backyard flock and wild birds,” the Louisiana Department of Health continued.
Left unclear was whether the victim was simply someone who kept backyard hens or pet ducks, or was a cockfighter.
“Non-commercial backyard flock” is a frequent euphemism used among public health personnel to describe the facilities of cockfighters and gamefowl breeders, to avoid disclosing the identities and pastimes of people whose cooperation is needed to trace disease outbreaks to source.
“Extensive public health investigation has identified no additional H5N1 cases nor evidence of person-to-person transmission,” the Lousiana Department of Health added. “This patient remains the only human case of H5N1 in Louisiana.”
(Beth Clifton collage)
Buckle of the “cockfighting belt”
That, however, is sparse reassurance, since Louisiana is the buckle of a 12-state “cockfighting belt.” Louisiana gamecocks are also commonly sold abroad.
Cockfighters transporting gamefowl were the major vector for a 2003-2004 H5N1 outbreak in Southeast Asia that killed 464 of the 878 people known to have become infected.
In that light, charges of second-degree cruelty to animals brought against 54 alleged cockfighters in Dunnville, Casey County, Kentucky might be regarded as a timely public health measure.
(Beth Clifton collage)
Tip from SHARK
Announced Kentucky State Police Post 15, in Columbia, Adair County, “On January 4, 2025, at 11:10 A.M. Eastern Standard Time, Post 15 received a call from an individual stating an organized chicken-fighting event was currently active at a property on Riffe Creek Road.
“Troopers responded to the property and made contact with numerous individuals involved in a chicken-fighting event.
“Troopers shut down the event while at the property. Fifty-four individuals were charged and cited to Casey County District Court.”
(Beth Clifton collage)
“Didn’t fool around”
Confirmed Showing Animals Respect & Kindness [SHARK] founder Steve Hindi, “Just four days into the new year, we called the Kentucky State Police about an active event at a long-running cockfighting pit in Casey County, Kentucky. The Kentucky State Police didn’t fool around. They went right in and charged 54 people!
“When we started our field campaign to ‘Crush Cockfighting’ a few years ago, things didn’t work that way. We persisted, and now that is paying off!” Hindi said.
“We are very happy to see the Kentucky State Police stepping up, and commend them for doing a good job in Casey County,” Hindi added.
FBI vehicles parked in front of the alleged Whitesburg cockpit.
“Gambling, minors, & narcotics”
“Cockfighting is a cluster crime, with animal cruelty, illegal gambling, the attendance of minors, and often narcotics bundled together,” Hindi detailed, mentioning that the SHARK team “have documented illegal fights across eastern Kentucky and mapped out the locations of more than 15 operating fighting pits,” leading to “a number of interdictions, mainly by federal authorities.”
Recalled Animal Wellness Action and Center for A Humane Economy president Wayne Pacelle, whose organizations have partnered with Showing Animals Respect & Kindness to bust cockfights, “This follows the recent federal sentencing of people involved in a cockfighting operation in Whitesburg, Kentucky. The owner, Robert Dwayne Baker, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit animal fighting, a federal felony. As part of the plea agreement, Baker dismantled the venue and forfeited $85,395.
(See Is light sentence in Kentucky cockfighting case part of a trade for testimony?)
Cockfighting audience at the Whitesburg pit.
Seating for 500 people
“Court records identified Baker’s facility in Isom, Letcher County, as the Whitesburg Chicken Pit or American Testing Facility,” Pacelle continued.
“The venue featured seating for approximately 500 people, a concession stand, a main fighting pit, a rooster-weighing station, and an area for sharpening metal gaffs. These gaffs are attached to the roosters’ legs during fights to inflict cuts on opponents.
“It appears that the operation in Casey County operated on a similar scale, with a cockfighting arena with seating for 500,” Pacelle said.
“Staged animal fights are barbaric, and law enforcement should exhibit no tolerance for them,” Pacelle added. “We hope to see an increasing partnership between the Kentucky State Police and federal law enforcement to wipe out illegal cockfighting in Kentucky.”
(Beth Clifton collage)
Plug for the FIGHT Act
“These operators feel they are beyond the reach of the law, and they are now getting a rude awakening.” Pacelle said, throwing in a plug for the anticipated reintroduction of the “Fighting Inhumane Gambling and High-risk Trafficking Act, or FIGHT Act” in the newly opened 119th Congress
The FIGHT Act died in the 118th Congress through the last-minute intervention of Arkansas U.S. Senator John Boozman.
(See Oklahoma cockfighting bust reignites effort to pass FIGHT Act in new Congress.)
“The FIGHT Act would enhance enforcement of anti-cockfighting laws by banning online gambling on animal fights; halting the shipment of mature roosters (chickens only) through the U.S. Postal Service; allowing a civil right of action for private citizens against animal fighters after proper notice to federal authorities; and enhancing criminal forfeiture penalties to include real property for those convicted of animal fighting crimes,” Pacelle detailed.
(Beth Clifton collage)
“Burn the damned place down!”
“Cockfighting is a crime of violence,” Pacelle reminded, “bound up with other crimes, including border crimes like illegal trafficking of animals and narcotics. We have a long way to go before these crime networks are dismantled, and the FIGHT Act provides the tools to do exactly that.”
Frustratedly said Hindi, to John McGary of WEKU, the National Public Radio member station in Richmond, Kentucky, “Frankly, I wish the police could go in and get a court order and come back and burn the damned place [the Dunnville cockpit] down, because that’s pretty much what has to be done. The judges, unfortunately, are not putting these guys away for nearly long enough.”
Reported McGary, “Hindi said that for some cockfighters, a few months in prison and a fine don’t compare to the many thousands of dollars they can make before and after serving their sentence.”
(Beth Clifton collage)
“Whack-a-cockfight”
Hindi has been playing whack-a-cockfight with the “Casey’s Pit” cockfighters in Dunnville for nearly two years.
On April 8, 2023, tipping off Kentucky State Trooper Post 15 to a cockfight at the Casey County Pit on Riffe Creek Road in Dunnville seemed to be sufficient to shut it down for the day, but Hindi was under no illusion that it would stay closed, and it didn’t.
On July 16, 2023, Hindi told ANIMALS 24-7, a cockfight allegedly scheduled for Casey’s Pit in Casey County, Kentucky was not held, either on the original date or the alternate date, which was the following day.
On May 6, 2024, reported Audrey Fowler of WLEX television in Bethelridge, Kentucky, “Fourteen people were charged with cruelty to animals for their alleged involvement in an organized chicken fighting event in Casey County.”
Kentucky State Police, Fowler said, “found a caged arena with seating for spectators, multiple injured chickens, and a concessions area.”
On that occasion, Kentucky State Police credited Showing Animals Respect & Kindness with relaying information leading to second degree cruelty to animals charges against 14 alleged cockfighters, including father-and-son alleged cockfighting hosts Leo Harris, 59, and Christopher Harris, 39.
(Beth Clifton collage)
Drones to bust cockfights in India
Earlier in the day on January 4, 2025, before the latest bust at “Casey’s Pit” transpired, Hindi forwarded to ANIMALS 24-7 a brief note from Rajulapudi Srinivas of The Hindu about police in Andhra Pradesh state, India, using drones “to prevent cockfights during Sankranti,” a traditional Hindu winter celebration often marked by cockfights.
“The banned bloodsport, which has huge patronage in rural areas, is conducted in a big way during Sankranti every year,” Rajulapudi Srinivas wrote.
Cockfighting was prohibited by the High Court of Andhra Pradesh in 2016, Rajulapudi Srinivas explained, but police trying to enforce the law have had limited success, even though “The organizers make elaborate arrangements to conduct cockfights under floodlights,” with “arenas being arranged on the banks of the Krishna and the Godavari rivers” in multiple communities.
Steve Hindi with drones.
Drones & awareness
“Realtors, businessmen, politicians, film stars and celebrities from Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and other states attend the cockfights with their families,” Rajulapudi Srinivas continued. “Some crores [hundreds of thousands] of rupees change hands in the betting conducted at such arenas.”
But “This year,” Rajulapudi Srinivas said, “the police are planning to deploy drones to check cockfights,” as well as “conducting awareness programs explaining to the villagers the consequences of participating” in cockfighting.
Merritt & Beth Clifton with Henry the rooster.
Hindi, conducting drone surveillance of cockfights since 2018, has repeatedly recommended drone use against cockfighting to both law enforcement and other animal advocates, to little avail.
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