Former AG requests prosecution of alleged Oklahoma exporters of cockfighting birds

Former Oklahoma Attorney General Drew Edmondson has sent emails to federal and state prosecutors in eastern Oklahoma asking them to investigate allegations that game fowl breeders within their jurisdictions are among the leading exporters of roosters to Guam for the purpose of cockfighting.

“The Eastern District is fraught with individuals who have been involved in the global trafficking and fighting of birds,” said Edmondson, who represents several animal rights groups. “It is a felony under state and federal law to buy, sell, deliver or own any bird with the intent that such bird shall engage in a cockfight, and that’s clearly what we’re seeing."

Edmondson said his emails to prosecutors were prompted by an investigation by Animal Wellness Action and Animal Wellness Foundation that revealed individuals from eastern Oklahoma were three of the top five shippers of birds to Guam over a period of three years.

Edmondson serves as co-chair of the National Law Enforcement Council, which he described as an arm of Animal Wellness Action and the Animal Wellness Foundation.

Investigators with the two organizations examined about 2,500 pages of avian shipping records obtained through public records requests submitted to the Guam Department of Agriculture, Edmondson said. They were able to identify about 750 shipments of birds to Guam from more than a dozen states that occurred from November 2016 through September 2019, he said.

"Guam is an area where until recently cockfighting was legal, although it was illegal under United States law to ship (fighting) birds to any state or territory anywhere around the world."

In the shipping documents, more than 8,800 of the shipped birds were identified as “brood fowl,” but there is "no legitimate explanation for this volume of shipments," the animal rights organizations said in a news release.

"The ratio of roosters to hens are anywhere from 10 to 1 to 100 to 1," Edmondson said at a virtual news conference. "That indicates it's not brood stock at all. It is intended for the fighting rings of Guam. That is a violation not only of federal law, but also a violation of state law."

Although cockfighting has been banned for years in Oklahoma, it remains the "cockfighting capital of the United States,” alleged Wayne Pacelle, founder of Animal Wellness Action. “The practice is cruel and barbaric, and long-distance movements of the birds threaten to spread avian influenza and jeopardize animal and human health.”

Pacelle said birds were shipped to Guam in boxes, without food or water.

"To be stuck in a cargo hold for several days, which is often what happens, is a life-threatening situation," he said. "I think it speaks to the lack of concern for the well-being of these animals."

"We don't want Oklahoma to be first in these blood sport matters," said Louisa McCune, executive director of the Kirkpatrick Foundation, which supports a number of animal welfare causes.

In an email to federal prosecutor Brian Kuester, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District in Muskogee, Edmondson identified a Heavener couple and individuals from Stigler and Tahlequah as being among the leading shippers of fighting roosters to Guam.

"I write to ask for your attention and prosecution of ongoing felony violations of state and federal laws banning cockfighting and related activity," Edmondson said. "The three individuals identified in this investigation brazenly defy law enforcement officers. This deserves the attention of law enforcement officers and prosecutors, and that’s what we’re asking for.”

Copies of the email also were sent to Cherokee County District Attorney Jack Thorp, Haskell County District Attorney Chuck Sullivan and Le Flore County District Attorney Jeff Smith, Edmondson said.

Kuester said he had not yet seen the email and was not in a position to comment.

Thorp said he was in the process of reviewing the email.

"Generally, with anything of this nature there would have to be a law enforcement investigation before any type of a prosecution," Thorp said. "I will be forwarding the information that I have received to law enforcement in Cherokee County."

Thorp said he was not familiar with the Cherokee County man identified in the email and was not aware of activities described in the email going on within his prosecutorial district.

Sullivan, the Haskell County prosecutor, said he received the email but had not yet had a chance to review it.

"Anytime I'm notified of a crime being committed in my district, I'll look into it," Sullivan said. "I'm not going to ignore it."

Smith could not be reached for comment.

Edmondson said he submitted his initial requests to prosecutors in Oklahoma, since three of the top five exporters of roosters to Guam were from this state, but said similar requests will be made to prosecutors in other states later based on the information uncovered during the investigation.

There were 71 total exporters involved including eight from Oklahoma, but the top five were responsible for more than half of the total shipments, Pacelle said.

Other Oklahoma shippers also will be targeted, Edmondson said.

Edmondson said he hopes to send a message to cockfighters and shippers throughout Oklahoma.

"This is our first move," he said. "Next, we're coming after you."

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