FIGHT Act Cracks Down on Animal Fighting, Allows Citizens to Sue Violators for Up to $5,000

The Fighting Inhumane Gambling and High-risk Trafficking Act of 2025—the FIGHT Act—is taking aim at animal fighting ventures, particularly those involving roosters. This bill significantly expands the federal government’s power to prosecute these activities and, perhaps more importantly, gives private citizens a direct line to the federal courts to enforce the law themselves.

Defining the Fight and Who's Banned

This bill starts by making sure everyone is on the same page, formally defining a "rooster" for enforcement purposes as any male chicken older than six months. Beyond the simple definition, the new law completely rewrites the prohibitions in the Animal Welfare Act. It’s now crystal clear that you can’t sponsor, exhibit, or put an animal into a fight. The law also adds two new federal prohibitions that affect everyday people and their families: it is now illegal to attend an animal fighting venture if you are under 16, and it is illegal to gamble on these events, whether they are in person or streamed.

This means if you’re a parent, you need to know that taking a minor under 16 to one of these events is now a federal offense under this section. The bill also tightens up the rules for logistics, explicitly banning the use of the U.S. Postal Service or any other interstate system to transport roosters for fighting purposes. If you’re shipping livestock, you need to be very careful that your transport doesn't run afoul of this new, tighter restriction.

The Power of the Citizen Lawsuit

One of the biggest real-world changes here is the introduction of the "citizen lawsuit" provision. Normally, only the government can bring federal charges. Under the FIGHT Act, any person can now sue someone they believe is violating these animal fighting rules in a U.S. District Court to get a judge to stop the illegal activity (an injunction). If the court agrees, the judge can issue a fine up to $5,000 for each violation, a penalty that could seriously sting. This is a game-changer for animal welfare groups and private citizens who want to see these laws enforced.

However, you can’t just storm the courthouse. Before filing, you have to give the Secretary of Agriculture and local law enforcement 60 days' notice about the alleged violation. This gives the government a chance to act first. You also can’t file a suit if the government is already actively prosecuting the person for the same violation, which prevents double-dipping and legal chaos. If you do win, the court has the discretion to award you the costs of litigation, which helps level the playing field for private groups.

When the Government Takes the Land

The bill also significantly expands the government's ability to seize property. If someone is found to have violated the rule against sponsoring or exhibiting an animal in a fight, the government can seize all real property—including land and any buildings on it—that was used, even partially, to commit or help commit that violation. This is a serious escalation.

Think of a property owner who rents out a barn. If the tenant uses just a corner of that barn to stage a single fighting event, the government now has the authority to seize the entire property, not just the barn. While this is a powerful deterrent against using land for illegal activity, it’s a provision that requires careful judicial oversight to ensure it doesn't unfairly punish property owners who might have only a tangential connection to the crime. Finally, the bill makes it clear that this new federal law is just setting a baseline; it won't override any state or local laws that are even stricter on animal fighting.