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

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.

Dog Fighting: Performing Masculinity in Rural South Punjab, Pakistan

Dog fighting, along with other nonhuman-animal-fighting activities, is a popular pastime in rural South Punjab, Pakistan. This article explicates dog fighting and discusses its symbolic significance to those who control the game, organize it, and participate in the performance. In discussing the activity, the paper raises multiple questions: how do rural men develop an attachment to their fighting dogs? What motivates the men to engage in dog fighting? How is dog fighting a cultural practice? What type of social gains do dog fighters make when there is no gambling involved? Finally, what symbolic meanings can be drawn from this activity from an emic perspective? The article is based on year-long ethnographic fieldwork with dog fighters in South Punjab, Pakistan, and examines the activity within the Punjabi cultural context where it is taken as an enthusiastic predilection (shauq) for displaying masculinity (mardāngī) to achieve honor (izzat).

Ensuring Effective Tools for a Challenging Task: Amending the Animal Welfare Act’s Animal Fighting Venture Civil Asset Forfeiture Provision

Ensuring Effective Tools for a Challenging Task: Amending the Animal Welfare Act’s Animal Fighting Venture Civil Asset Forfeiture Provision