Wal-Mart Mexico, the Country's Biggest Retailer, Probed on Complaints of Cockfighting Nacha Cattan - Businessweek
go to original September 18, 2014

Bloomberg News Update: A company spokesman admitted to Bloomberg News that there were cocks in the store, and those cocks were indeed fighting each other. But since the roosters weren’t armed with blades, and no betting took place at the store, Walmex spokesman Antonio Ocaranza stood his ground: “It wasn’t a cockfight.”

Wal-Mart de Mexico SAB, the country’s biggest retailer, is being investigated by Veracruz officials after shoppers complained that a store hosted a cockfight to promote a soda company.

Walmex faces fines of as much as 96,000 pesos ($7,250) if found responsible, said Jose Luis Hernandez, commercial director of the city of Boca del Rio, where betting on fighting roosters is illegal. A Walmex spokesman, Antonio Ocaranza, said the roosters weren’t armed with blades, no betting took place at the store and no birds were harmed.

“It wasn’t a cockfight,” Ocaranza said in a telephone interview in Mexico City. “There wasn’t anything that would be in violation of any game regulations.”

The cockfighting claims in the coastal city on the Gulf of Mexico sparked outrage from local animal-rights groups after photos of brawling roosters ringed by shoppers in a supermarket aisle made the rounds on social media. Walmex is a unit of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT:US), the world’s largest retailer.

Walmex has until Sept. 24 to bring evidence against the cockfighting claims, Hernandez said. It would also be illegal to bring live animals into a commercial establishment, he said. A local soft-drink company staged the event to promote its product, Ocaranza said.

Brooke Buchanan, a spokeswoman for Bentonville, Arkansas-based Wal-Mart, didn’t respond to a request for comment.

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Photo: WSJ.com

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