The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) filed an amended complaint in federal court in the District of Columbia against Amazon.com, asserting that the online retailer's sale of two cockfighting magazines — The Feathered Warrior and The Gamecock — violates a new federal law that strengthens the Animal Welfare Act by making certain animal fighting activities a felony.
The suit, which was filed in February, originally alleged that Amazon.com's sale of the magazines, which are mail-order catalogs for illegal cockfighting weapons and fighting birds — violates state law and the misdemeanor provisions of the Animal Welfare Act, which is the nation's core animal protection law. In response, Amazon.com has filed papers arguing it has a constitutional right to sell animal fighting paraphernalia.
"Amazon's decision to peddle illegal animal fighting paraphernalia is bad enough, but its decision to disobey and attempt to nullify a key provision of the federal Animal Welfare Act is patently outrageous," said Wayne Pacelle, HSUS president and CEO. "There is no constitutional right to engage in criminal activity, and Amazon should stop being the exclusive online vendor for an industry that perpetrates such blatant animal cruelty."
On May 3, President Bush signed the federal Animal Fighting Prohibition Enforcement Act of 2007, which makes it a felony to use "any interstate instrumentality for commercial speech for purposes of promoting or in any other manner furthering an animal fighting venture." The law also makes it a felony to buy or sell cockfighting weapons such as gaffs and knives, which are widely advertised in the publications.
The Internet seller's defiance of the federal animal protection law, and its defense of two trade publications that sell fighting birds, fighting dogs, blood-clotting drugs, and weapons designed exclusively for illegal cockfighting, has confounded consumers, animal protection advocates, and legal scholars nationwide.
In recent court filings, Amazon.com and other animal fighting proponents have claimed:
- Animal fighting is only "allege[dly]
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