Blood Sport Crackdown

California lawmakers are moving to tighten the noose on one of the state’s most persistent underground animal-cruelty industries: cockfighting.

AB 928, known as the California Cockfighting Cruelty Act, is aimed not at backyard chicken owners or legitimate poultry operations, but at large-scale gamefowl yards where authorities say roosters are bred, isolated, conditioned and sold for illegal fights. The bill would prohibit a person, beginning January 1, 2028, from keeping more than 25 roosters that are movement-constrained through cages, enclosures or tethers. Violators could face civil penalties of up to $2,500 for each violation, with each day counted separately.

Cockfighting is already illegal in California and under federal law, but animal-welfare advocates argue that existing statutes often come into play only after birds have been trained, trafficked or thrown into the pit. AB 928 seeks to move enforcement upstream by targeting the breeding infrastructure that supports the fights.

Supporters describe the conditions in many gamefowl yards as brutal and deliberate. Roosters are often kept within sight of one another but unable to make contact, a setup critics say is used to intensify aggression. In illegal fights, birds may be fitted with sharp blades or gaffs attached to their legs, turning the match into a bloody spectacle that often ends in death.

Jenny Berg, California state director for Humane World for Animals, told lawmakers the bill addresses the root of the problem by going after large operations that traffic fighting birds. Supporters also point to public-health concerns, saying birds raised outdoors, transported without oversight and exposed to blood and disease can pose risks to poultry operations and animal-control workers.

Opponents say the measure is too broad and could burden rural families, immigrant communities, lawful breeders and cultural poultry traditions. Some argue it creates a property-rights problem and could invite uneven enforcement. Supporters counter that the bill includes exemptions for inspected food production, schools, animal shelters, nonprofit animal-welfare organizations and approved 4-H, FFA and Grange projects.

At its core, the debate is about how far California should go to stop a blood sport that has survived despite decades of criminal penalties. AB 928 would give authorities a new civil tool before the next raid uncovers hundreds — or thousands — of birds already bred for combat.