A Legislative History of Nonhuman Animal Fighting in the U.S. and Its Territories

Abstract

Nonhuman animal fighting is an ancient form of exploitation, still attracting millions of followers. While 19th-century proscriptions imposed in the U.S. succeeded in stigmatizing it, animal fighters adapted to these cultural and legal taboos and continued to operate, often clandestinely. Cockfighting thrived, operating as a quasi-legal enterprise until an incremental policy-making campaign succeeded in passing a raft of local, state, and federal laws to outlaw it everywhere in the U.S. Between 1998 and 2018, legal cockfighting was banned in the final five states; more than 40 other states reformed their laws; and Congress passed multiple reforms to ban animal fighting, including in the U.S. territories. The process of outlawing animal fighting faced fierce resistance, but these practices are now the most widely and severely criminalized forms of animal mistreatment in the U.S. Adherence to the law and enforcement are continuing challenges.