MCINTOSH COUNTY, Okla. — An animal rights group says they caught the leaders of the Oklahoma Gamefowl Commission on camera at a recent illegal cockfight in McIntosh County and shared the video with FOX23.

For a few years now, a group known as the Oklahoma Gamefowl Commission has been donating to state lawmakers in both parties and heavily advocating for the loosening of Oklahoma’s cockfighting ban and what people can do with their chickens and roosters.

In 2023, the leaders of the Oklahoma Gamefowl Commission, Anthony Devore and Blake Pearce, both told FOX23 they do not support cockfighting whatsoever because it is illegal in Oklahoma.

They are fighting for the rights of animal owners.

Fast-forward a year and a half later, and the group Animal Wellness Action says they caught the men on camera at a recent illegal cockfight in McIntosh County near Shady Grove on June 7.

“Today we are here to unmask arguably the two leading proponents of cockfighting the country who are based in Oklahoma,” said Animal Wellness Action President Wayne Pacello.

Pacello says the Oklahoma Gamefowl Commission, who has been active at the State Capitol, is a front for people trying to undermine Oklahoma’s 2002 voter-approved ban on cockfighting.

“It has the nomenclature of an authentic or appointed group that is regulating game fowl,” Pacello said. “It’s just a front for cockfighters. We’ve known this all along.”

Undercover investigators shared video with FOX23 of what they say are Devore and Pearce watching roosters fight to the death with long blades attached to their bodies to inflict more pain and damage during the fight.

“Everybody knows that if they’re involved in cockfighting, they’re engaging in a felony illegal activity except for the prohibitions on being a spectator, that’s a misdemeanor at the federal level and the state level,” Pacello said.

FOX23 attempted numerous times on Wednesday to reach Devore and Pearce online and through phone numbers we found for them, but those email accounts and phone numbers have now been disconnected and our emails bounced back.

Pacello says after last weekend’s investigation, it is clear that those at the Capitol who believe they are accepting money from rooster lovers need to take note that the animals they claim to love are killed and then thrown in the trash after the fight.