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More Than 100 Birds Euthanized After Being Seized From Duplex

Photo by Kirsten Carr on Unsplash

A cockfighting operation located in Memphis has caused more than 100 roosters and hens to contract mycoplasma, a bacteria that causes significant damage to the body. This resulted in the animals being euthanized.

According to Memphis Animal Services, the birds were “discovered to be kept in cramped cages and standing in their own feces.” They were discovered at the duplex of 47-year-old Luis Vallellanes, who has been charged with aggravated cruelty to animals. 

Authorities also found “a dog with injuries consistent with animal fighting,” at Vallellanes’ home earlier this month.

Wayne Pacelle, president of Animal Wellness Action said their investigations into animal fighting in Tennessee have spanned from Cocke County to Shelby County. He also said this recent discovery is a threat to the state’s “major” poultry industry.

“That’s not a circumstance that farmers or consumers can afford, and state lawmakers need to act and stop kowtowing to organized criminal associations in the state,” said Pacelle in a statement.

During the 2023 legislative session, Senator Jon Lundberg (R-Bristol) introduced SB 0194 which would make “certain animal cruelty offenses involving a cock,” a Class E Felony. As of now, Tennessee is only one of eight states that does not provide “felony-level penalties” for cockfighting.

“Tennessee Senator Jon Lundberg, is seeking to strengthen the law to crack down on cruelty, to address the other crimes associated with animal fighting, and to protect the state’s poultry flocks from diseases spread by sickened, stressed, cockfighting birds,” reads a statement from The Center for a Humane Economy.

The Center for a Humane Economy added that Congress is looking to expand federal animal fighting laws through the FIGHT Act ( H.R. 2742/S. 1529.)

The summary of the act prohibits “broadcasts from international, interstate, or intrastate sources of animal fighting ventures in the United States or U.S. territories; and  shipments or transport of certain mature roosters.”

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Cockfighting Bust Brings Space “Crisis” to Memphis Animal Services

CREDIT: Memphis Animal Services/Facebook

Memphis Animal Services/Facebook

A Memphis Animal Services Facebook video shows dozens of chicken cages seized in a cockfighting arrest.

A Memphis cockfighting arrest has brought “a crisis of space and resources” to Memphis Animal Services (MAS).

In a Friday Facebook post, MAS officials said one of its officers recognized signs of a cockfighting operation recently. MAS brought in the Memphis Police Department (MPD) to investigate.

According to Fox 13 News, MPD arrested Hector Espino Martinez on Elliston Road Thursday night. Police charged him with aggravated cruelty to animals, cockfighting, and cruelty to animals.

MAS said the bust brought in 174 birds, 11 dogs, and a cat — a total of 185 animals — through its doors. MAS could not offer any further details of the incident as its an ongoing police investigation.

Cockfighting Bust Brings Space ‘Crisis’ to Memphis Animal Services

The animal shelter could not speculate on what will happen with the chickens, noting the determination will made by veterinarians and courts. But it has reached out to state and national agencies for placement assistance.

The main thing we need you to know is that this large, unusual intake has created a crisis of space and resources at the shelter,” reads the post. “The chickens are currently being housed in both cat and dog areas that have been emptied for them. The best way people can help us offset the demands of this intake is to foster and adopt large adult dogs.”

Click here for more information on fostering dogs from MAS.

The cockfighting bust comes as a state legislator is pushing legislation in the Tennessee General Assembly this year to make cockfighting a felony in Tennessee. That bill is supported by the nonprofit Animal Wellness Action (AWA).

“We applaud the Memphis police for their seizure of 100 gamecocks and arrest of Hector Espino Martinez and hope this sends a strong signal to cockfighters that this cruelty will not be tolerated in the Volunteer State,” AWA executive director Marty Irby said. “Cockfighting activities breed diseases such as avian influenza and New Castle Disease that have cost the American taxpayer billions of dollars and could be the next COVID-19-type pandemic if they jump the species barrier.” 

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State Bill Would Crack Down on Cockfighting

CREDIT: Source: Animal Wellness Action

Source: Animal Wellness Action

Animal Wellness Action says Tennessee’s weak cockfighting laws allow brazen participants to speak publicly about their illegal involvement in it, even appearing on trade magazine covers.

A Tennessee legislator has pledged to crack down on cockfighting in the state, and animal rights activists are behind him.

Tennessee state Sen. Jon Lundberg (R-Bristol) and leaders at Animal Wellness Action (AWA) and Animal Wellness Foundation (AWF) are working to end cockfighting in Tennessee. Sen. Lundberg announced that he will bring anti-cockfighting legislation to Nashville this year.

Tennessee is one of only eight states without felony-level penalties for cockfighting. Animal rights activists at AWA and AWF claim that this weak law is the reason why cockfighting rings have run rampant in the state for years. Although owning and shipping birds for cockfighting has been banned under federal law since 2002, these cockfighting rings continue to ship and distribute birds for fighting internationally.

According to AWA and AWF, Tennessee cockfighters shipped the sixth-largest number of birds, with Oklahoma having the distinction of being the top shipper. Tennessee cockfighting rings have been linked to Guam, Mexico, and the Philippines, and federal agencies have been asked to investigate the culprits.

In July 2020, AWA and AWF asked U.S. Attorneys Douglas Overbey and Donald Cochran to investigate allegations that nine Tennesseans appeared to be deeply involved in illegal trafficking of fighting animals. The allegations are that Tennesseeans are sending birds around the globe to fight, violating federal U.S. law.

“We have solid evidence that Tennessee-based individuals are openly raising birds where their neighbors and passing drivers can see and get a clear look at their cockfighting complexes; they are appearing on cockfighting magazine covers and in cockfighting videos; they are touting their fighting records on social media, and they are fraudulently signing shipping records that say they are chicken breeders only,” said Wayne Pacelle, president of AWA. “They are doing this because they think Tennessee’s anti-cockfighting law is so weak that they can get away with this lawlessness. A felony-level penalty under state law may change their attitude.”

According to AWA and AWF, three Tennessee-based operators signed shipping records for the transport of fighting animals to Guam. The shippers who sold to Guam typically used the U.S. Postal Service to transport the birds. They allegedly packed live animals into boxes and sent them 8,000 miles from Tennessee to Guam without food or water.

AWA and AWF obtained information on even more Tennessee cockfighters. One individual, based in Springfield, who appears in a video broadcast by the Philippines-based network BNTV, boasted of shipping fighting birds to foreign destinations, including Mexico and the Philippines. One other cockfighting enthusiast, based in Murfreesboro, also appears in a BNTV interview stating, “I’ll say over 25 years I won over 250 derbies,” on the network.

A third individual, Larry Whitehead, appeared on the cover of “Cockfights” magazine. Other Tennessee-based cockfighters tout his shipments to Mexico and the Philippines, the groups said.

“Staged animal fighting is intertwined with other crimes and when we stamp out animal fighting, we make our communities safer,” said Marty Irby, executive director at AWA.