Unfortunately, the Congress passed up a tremendous opportunity to pass a provision to limit the global trade in cockfighting birds—a well-established threat to transmit bird flu and a pathway to spread the deadly disease across the globe—and instead used the Defense spending bill to attach a controversial provision to allow drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR).

Animal protection advocates were more than hopeful that the House would attach the relatively uncontroversial "Animal Fighting Prohibition Enforcement Act" (S. 382 and H.R. 817) to the DoD spending bill given that there were a raft of provisions attached to combat avian influenza and to prepare for the possibility of a pandemic. But not only was the anti-cockfighting bill not included, the committee reviewing the DoD appropriations bill went out of its way to explicitly state in a press release that it never intended to include any language related to anti-animal fighting efforts.

Tell Congress to reject the DoD bill.

To add insult to injury, the committee then tacked on a controversial rider that opens the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil exploration and drilling. The Arctic Refuge is home to hundreds of species of wildlife including polar bears, musk oxen, wolves, grizzly bears, and other wildlife species.

The HSUS has long opposed drilling in the Arctic, and a measure that stirs such controversy and that has divided the country and the Congress should not be handled in this manner. Congress should be doing all it can to combat bird flu, not slipping in a controversial energy production plan in a wildlife refuge.

Do we have to wait for an outbreak of avian flu to occur in this country before we put an end to the barbaric cockfighting industry?

Please act now!

Not sure what to say? Click here for a sample phone call and to send an email to your Senators.


Tell your Senators to reject the final DoD appropriations bill because it includes Arctic drilling but does not include common-sense measures to help stop the spread of bird flu by cracking down on cruel cockfights.

Urge your friends to take action, too.

Thank you for your action in these last critical hours. I know many of you are busy with holiday preparations, and I appreciate you taking time out for this important matter.