Nearly 50 animals seized from home of suspected cock-fighting ring

50 animals seized from Medina Township Ohio home,

courtesy CBS 19 WOIO

About 50 animals removed from a Medina Township home Thursday morning, and officials believe the owner was possibly operating a cock fighting ring…more

All sides hail new livestock-care rules

State agriculture chief Jim Zehringer, seen in front of an Ohio Historical Society photo, acknowleges that the process was a struggle but credits public input in the sweeping result.

Photo courtesy Tom Dodge, Columbus Dispatch

In one of those rare events in government, calmer heads prevailed, averting a costly, divisive political campaign in 2009. Now, two years later, the result is comprehensive farm-animal rules that catapult Ohio to the forefront of the nation…more

Cockfight in Toledo leads to arrests of 12 area men

Photo courtesy PETA Files

…Cockfighting is a centuries-old [blood] sport in which two or more specially bred birds, or gamecocks, are placed in an enclosed pit to fight, according to information on the Humane Society of the United States site…

…Ohio is one of only a handful of states where cockfighting is considered a misdemeanor, Mr. [John] Dinon [executive director of the Toledo-Area Humane Society] said. He added that there is a bill up for consideration in the Ohio legislature that would make the crime a felony.

House Bill 260 would charge a first-time offender with a fifth-degree felony…more