ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) – Georgia is the only state in the country where cockfighting is not, by law, a felony. That could change as Senate Bill 102 creeps towards passage.

The bill would outlaw cockfighting and bring it under the same state statute that makes dogfighting a felony in Georgia. It would also make bringing a minor to an organized cockfight an aggravated misdemeanor.

The brutal sport of cockfighting features roosters with gaffs — essentially razor blades or daggers — attached to their legs in a fight to the death.

“Unfortunately, it’s way more common than people are aware of,” said Jessica Rock, an animal crimes prosecutor in Georgia. “There are organized cockfights going on in the State of Georgia every weekend.”

Rock is the first and one of the only state-funded prosecutors solely dedicated to animal cruelty cases. She’s been lobbying for the passage of SB 102 after another attempt at outlawing cockfighting, SB 255, failed in the legislature last year. Rock said people would be surprised at the scale of cockfighting events in Georgia.

“You’re talking about stadium seating, concessions stands, people from multiple other states bringing trailers of birds into Georgia to fight them,” she said. “You can make upwards of $100,000 or more on a derby, which is a series of cockfights that can occur over a day.”

As of now, there’s not much law enforcement in Georgia can do to prosecute serious cases of cockfighting. Sometimes, the best they can do is charge misdemeanor animal cruelty or misdemeanor gambling. But Rock also said it can be a gateway to much more serious crimes.

“Obviously, there’s gambling involved and then unfortunately, what we see a lot of times is drug trafficking, gun trafficking and human trafficking as well,” she said.

Cockfighting is already a federal felony, but bill sponsor State Sen. Randy Robertson (R-Cataula) said he wants Georgia to be able to handle their own investigations without the help of federal investigators.

“I think it’s something we can do on our own,” he said.

Cockfighting is vastly popular in many foreign countries. Robertson said a lot of the pushback he’s getting is from people for whom cockfighting is culturally ingrained. And he understands — his family used to attend cockfights when he was young and even raised fighting roosters.

“I understand the sport very well, but you know what? There are a lot of things we did many years ago that just don’t fit into the fabric of what Georgia is today,” he said. “I think it’s time we move beyond that.”

Like Rock, Robertson believes the only other opposition to this bill is from those who are making large sums of money on the sport.

“I would think it’s because they’re making – they or somebody that they care about – is making a profit off of it,” he said.

Said Rock: “They wouldn’t want to sign onto it if they’re engaged in cockfighting. I think it’s that simple.”

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March 25, 2025

A new exhibit, “Interconnected: A One Health Exploration,” from Georgia Southern University’s Institute for Health Logistics & Analytics (IHLA) opens at the Georgia Southern Museum today, March 25, and runs through January 2026. The public is invited to join the opening reception from 5 to 7 p.m. tonight, with remarks at 5:30 p.m. by featured speaker Bruce Conn, Ph.D., from the One Health Center at Berry College.

One Health is a concept that highlights how human health is intricately connected to the health of animals, plants and the shared environment. 

The exhibit examines these connections, giving visitors an up-close look at how the health of one part influences the rest. The “Interconnected” exhibit is divided into four sections—human, animal, plant and environment—each demonstrating how changes in one can directly impact the others through vivid imagery and color.

“We hope visitors leave the exhibit with a deeper understanding of how improving health on a global scale leads to better health and well-being for all of us, as well as how they can make a positive impact at home in their own communities,” said Jessica Schwind, Ph.D., director of IHLA. “Understanding this interconnectedness is vital to our collective well-being.”

Young visitors will receive a One Health Explorer Journal activity booklet and have the opportunity to become a “One Health Hero,” with materials designed by IHLA’s Learning Experience Designer Michelle Tremblay. Every child who participates will receive a small prize. In addition, the exhibit will feature four hands-on activity stations designed to be fun and deepen visitors’ understanding of One Health.

“Interconnected: A One Health Exploration” also features an interactive animated series, which follows a group of One Health explorers as they learn how to improve health and well-being in their town. The series is presented on iPad stations throughout the exhibit that were custom-designed by Georgia Southern graphic design students Chantel Bailey and Haylie Hawkins. The series will also be available on the IHLA website. 

Collaborating with students to bring the One Health explorers to life helped exhibit developers combine storytelling and education in a captivating new way.

“Georgia Southern senior design practice students developed the design concept for this exhibit last fall,” said Brent Tharp, Ph.D., director of the Georgia Southern Museum. “We collaborated closely with IHLA to refine the content and design, ultimately creating an engaging and informative experience.”

As visitors leave the exhibit they can add their pledge for improving health through small, meaningful actions.

“Over the past year, we’ve worked diligently to develop an exhibit program that connects the public with ways they can positively impact both their own health and the health of others,” said Deborah Harvey, IHLA exhibit lead. “Exhibits like this, as well as our ‘Outbreak’ exhibit and traveling ‘Emergency Preparedness’ exhibit, are an effective way to inspire change and raise awareness about the importance of our collective well-being.”

For more information about the exhibit, visit GeorgiaSouthern.edu/ihla and look for the exhibits page.

ATLANTA – Georgia election officials plan to remove nearly a half-million inactive voters from the registry.

It is one of the biggest planned purges in the country.

What they’re saying:

Blake Evans, elections director with the Secretary of State’s Office, says Georgia wants to maintain election integrity. “We want to make sure we have the most accurate voter list in the nation,” Evans said.

The agency will cancel about 455,000 inactive voter registrations in July. “We do this to keep our voter list accurate,” Evans said.

The Electronic Registration Information Center, ERIC, reports when a voter has moved out of state and is no longer eligible to vote. According to ERIC, 170,000 voters appear to have moved. The state says 100,000 people have not voted or had any contact with election officials for at least nine years.

“We want to ensure that voters who live here and are lawfully registered remain registered, and that anyone who moves out of state and has an outdated record gets their record removed following the lawful process,” Evans said.

Who it will affect

What we know:

Under Georgia’s “use it or lose it” law, voters can lose their registrations if they don’t remain in contact with election officials for five years and miss the next two general elections. Evans says the state is maintaining election integrity. “It’s very fair and it’s in accordance with state and federal laws,” Evans said.

The other side:

The plan is raising concerns from critics. Helen Butler, executive director of The Georgia Coalition for the People’s Agenda, is skeptical. “That many people, I’m really concerned that eligible voters will be removed and shouldn’t be removed,” Butler said. “You still live in Georgia, you’re still a resident, you should be able to vote.”

Butler worries the cancelations could disenfranchise people with unreliable mail delivery, those who have lost their homes, and other legitimate registered voters. “There are a lot of people who are being removed just because they haven’t voted in an election cycle, two presidential election cycles,” Butler said. “People of color, those in underserved communities, and residents of rural areas often lack transportation to vote.”

What we don’t know:

The agency will publish a list of the planned cancelations in July. 

What’s next:

Voters will get the chance to contact county election officials to keep their registrations intact.