California's Legislature just missed a chance to protect thousands of birds from a cruel, illegal industry — and animal lovers everywhere should be upset about it.

Assemblymember Chris Rogers introduced a bill limiting how many caged or tethered fighting roosters one person could keep. It wasn't a ban on raising poultry; farmers, educators, shelters, and exhibitors were exempt. The goal was narrower: stop illegal cockfighting operations from hiding behind backyard breeding. California has busted some of the nation's largest cockfighting rings, including a 2017 raid that seized about 7,000 birds.

Hundreds turned out to oppose the bill. Jenny Berg of the Humane World for Animals, who worked on it, said game fowl "are bred for aggression by definition." Lawmakers let it die without enough votes to move forward this year — a loss for the birds caught in these operations and the officers trying to stop an already-illegal practice.

Animal lovers on every side can agree cockfighting is cruel. California's Legislature should bring this bill back next session and finally give these animals real protection.

Sign the petition to demand California lawmakers reintroduce a stronger cockfighting prevention bill — before more roosters are bred for a fight they never chose.