Authorities in Victoria are investigating a man for allegedly importing illegal cockfighting equipment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Australia.- A man is under investigation for allegedly importing illegal cockfighting equipment<\/strong>. The Australian Border Force (ABF) found the alleged contraband during a routine X-ray screening of international mail in Melbourne.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The ABF alerted the Major Investigations Team of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) Victoria, which launched an investigation. They executed a warrant at a property in the Whitehorse City Council region, and seized the package and related items.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In addition to the confiscated equipment, inspectors seized two roosters, which are now under the care of the RSPCA. The possession or use of animal fighting implements is an offence under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Regulations (POCTAR) 2019. This includes items such as cockfighting rings and substances used to enhance rooster fighting performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Inspector Lisa Calleja<\/strong>, the team leader of the RSPCA Major Investigations team, stated: \u201cRSPCA Victoria is committed to stamping out illegal animal fighting in our state, and this investigation wouldn\u2019t have been possible without ABF\u2019s assistance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cCockfighting is illegal and cruel, and the roosters used in this blood sport suffer horrific injuries and death. Sadly, this latest investigation shows these barbaric activities are still occurring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cRSPCA Victoria\u2019s Major Investigation Team is committed to investigating and ending illegal animal fighting in the state. Serious penalties apply for persons found guilty of being involved in these brutal blood sports.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Superintendent Felicity Wicks<\/strong> of the ABF said: \u201cWe are highly trained and capable when it comes to making detections at the border. Our officers take immense pride in protecting all members of the Australian community, including beloved pets and animals.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Offences related to animal cruelty and involvement in blood-sport activities carry serious penalties under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act 1986<\/strong>, including fines of up to AU$92,460 or imprisonment for two years.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Authorities in Victoria are investigating a man for allegedly importing illegal cockfighting equipment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":176,"featured_media":20776,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"is_press_release":false,"is_interview":false,"is_opinion":false,"focusai_summary":"Authorities in Victoria, Australia, are investigating an individual for the alleged importation of illegal cockfighting equipment, discovered by the Australian Border Force. The RSPCA Victoria executed a warrant, seizing the contraband and two roosters, underscoring the ongoing enforcement against animal cruelty under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act 1986. This incident highlights the significant penalties applicable for involvement in such prohibited activities.","focusai_entities":"Australian Border Force (ABF), Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) Victoria, Lisa Calleja, Felicity Wicks","focusai_location":"Victoria, Melbourne, Whitehorse City Council region, Australia","focusai_target_profile":"regulator (0.7), compliance_legal (0.7), journalist_researcher (0.8)","focusai_suggestions":[{"label":"Cross-sector Enforcement Learnings","query":"What governance frameworks and inter-agency cooperation models demonstrated in this animal welfare enforcement action could be extrapolated or adapted to enhance regulatory compliance and anti-illicit activity efforts within the iGaming sector?"},{"label":"Regulatory Risk Implications","query":"How do incidents of illegal activity and subsequent enforcement actions, even in unrelated verticals, contribute to the broader perception of regulatory risk and the operational environment for licensed entities in Australia's regulated markets?"}],"footnotes":""},"categories":[16336,439],"tags":[20326],"class_list":["post-777005716","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-australasia-news","category-legal-news","tag-illegal-gambling"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777005716","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/176"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=777005716"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777005716\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":777005745,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777005716\/revisions\/777005745"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20776"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=777005716"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=777005716"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=777005716"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}