Governor Lou Leon Guerrero says she’ll meet with her legal team to work out a response to an animal rights group’s call for GovGuam to stop the illegal import of cockfighting birds from the states.
The federal ban on cockfighting took effect last month but the ban on transporting cockfighting birds across state and territorial lines has been in effect since 2007.
Animal Wellness Action claims that records from the Department of Agriculture show that nearly 9,000 game-fowl have been shipped to Guam over the past 3 years, and most of them are cockfighting birds.
The group’s founder, Wayne Pacelle, has asked Department of Agriculture Director Chelsa Muna-Brecht to block the shipments unless the shipper and receiver can prove they’re not cockfighting birds.
But Muna-Brecht told the Pacific News Center yesterday that since there has been no change in local law, her department would not change its current policy and start to restrict anyone’s access to imported birds.
The governor told K-57’s Patti Arroyo this morning that she’ll look into the issue.
“I’ll bring it up with my legal people and then we can talk to Chelsa and then we can see what is the correct way to deal with this based on federal law,” the governor said.
Muna-Brecht’s decision not to change the current review policy for imported game-fowl is in line with the legislative mandate to make the enforcement of the ban on cockfighting GovGuam’s lowest priority.
##
