Last U.S. cockfighters call in sick

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Environmental scourge has succeeded where animal rights activism has long failed: Cockfighting has been temporarily banned in Puerto Rico because of an outbreak of avian flu in the Caribbean.

Cockfighting is illegal in all U.S. states except Louisiana, and even there the practice will be outlawed come August. But the bloody contests have remained a lucrative tourist draw in Puerto Rico, where more than 100 pits attract fighting cock owners and breeders from throughout the Americas.

An outbreak of avian flu in the Dominican Republic — another popular cockfighting venue — prompted authorities to kill scores of chickens and roosters that tested positive for the H5N2 strain of the virus. All live-bird imports were suspended in Puerto Rico last week and cockfights, which earn the island as much as $12 million a year, were canceled.

Agriculture Minister Gabriel Figueroa told journalists on the island, though, that the ban could be lifted this month if no further cases of avian flu are detected in the region.

— Carol J. Williams in Miami