Puerto Rico Cockfighting Clubs Lose Bid to Halt Federal Ban

A federal ban on Puerto Rico’s “national sport” of cockfighting is set to take effect in December despite island-wide opposition to the law, after a District of Puerto Rico judge refused to block it.

The cockfighting ban passed last year as part of the annual Agriculture Improvement Act, commonly known as the federal “farm bill.” The lawsuit blasted it as a paternalistic, unconstitutional assault on a cherished tradition and “cultural right of all Puerto Ricans.” The case was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Puerto Rico.

Unfair stigmas and stereotypes of cockfighting as an “illegal and ...