US-based Animal Wellness Action identified Korean Air as, in its view, the largest global air transporter of illegally trafficked fighting birds, and linked the new policy directly to its investigations and corporate engagement efforts. In a statement, the group said the airline had accepted its demand to halt all rooster shipments to the Philippines. The organisation also reported that suppliers in the US, often presenting themselves as harmless farmers or breeders, had been sending fighting birds to the Philippines by the tens of thousands every year, in addition to those sent by land and air to Mexico. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals in the Philippines also welcomed the decision, seeing it as clearly targeting cockfighting. Jana Sevilla, spokeswoman for PETA in the Philippines, said, “We actually hope that other airlines will follow suit… We commend Korean Air for this move.” She added that cockfighting remains legal in several countries, including the Philippines, and said, “should be illegal all over the world.”