By John Dobberstein, Editor
A Washington D.C. animal welfare group has criticized state Senate candidate Shelley Gwartney for accepting an endorsement from a state commission alleged to be a cockfighting PAC.
Animal Wellness Action urged Republican primary voters to “reject Gwartney in her quest for that seat because of her full-throated acceptance and touting of an endorsement by the Oklahoma Gamefowl Commission.”
AWA subsequently said it was endorsing Christi Gillespie, who the group says opposes cockfighting and dogfighting.
Gwartney faces off against Christi Gillespie in the Republican runoff election Tuesday. Senate District 33 encompasses mostly Broken Arrow and parts of Tulsa.
AWA says Gwartney has expressed sympathy for “their stories of injustice due to … corruption within our criminal justice system.”
“Based on my involvement in working to dismantle animal fighting operations for over 40 years, I believe the barbaric practice of cockfighting has no place in Oklahoma,” said Kevin Chambers, Oklahoma state director for AWA — a national organization that promotes legal standards against cruelty and specializes in combating animal fighting.
“Support for cockfighting and the supplying of fighting roosters for cockfighting — perhaps one of the most reprehensible forms of animal cruelty — is disqualifying for public office.”
The Sentinel sent an email message Gwartney’s campaign about the AWA’s statements but no response was received.
In November 2023, AWA said, candidate Gwartney attended the cockfighters’ annual legislative meeting in McAlester, “where cockfighting t-shirts and paraphernalia were on open display and several speakers openly endorsed cockfighting.”
AWA said it previously discovered that cockfighters maintain an “extensive network” of cockfighting operations in Oklahoma. Anthony Devore, owner of a fighting rooster farm in Caddo and president of the cockfighters’ PAC, is a major donor to Gwartney’s campaign, AWA said.
Cockfighting is a felony in Oklahoma as well as by federal law.
Devore vehemently disputed how the waterfowl group was being depicted, saying the group does not condone any illegal activity — including cockfighting. Devore says OWC represents more than 5,000 farmers across the state and the organization stands for “liberties, freedoms and rights.
“Currently we are fighting for private property ownership that is granted to us in the United States Constitution and the Oklahoma State Constitution,” Devore said. “Currently there is a man in Oklahoma County facing 590 years for simply owning chickens. He was not at a fight. He was never at a fight and yet they raided his house in full tactical gear and pointed automatic weapons at his children who were under 11 years old, all over having chickens in his backyard. Note that after they confiscated the chickens, they killed them.
He added, “There has never been a bill introduced to legalize cockfighting. Those opponents who say we are trying to legalize it are speaking political rhetoric to entertain their own donor base. However, we do believe that the punishments should fit the crimes.
Laws like this are burdensome to our overstretched and under-funded law enforcement personnel who need to be paying attention to violent crimes and people that hurt us. Our underfunded correctional system is overcrowded, and we have one of the highest per capita incarceration rates in the entire country. And we still want to put people in prison for owning a chicken.”
Robert Simmons says
But when gillespie says that the 1st amendment is not a protected right, you guys just look the other way…………She didn’t just say it, it’s on video for all to see and hear. THAT makes someone unfit for public office.