The indictment of state Commissioner of Agriculture Charles Sharpe on charges that he solicited and accepted payments from cockfighters, and provided protection for them, signifies a change in attitudes about an illegal activity that has been generally handled in the past with a wink and a nod.

It is noteworthy that one government official might have proved himself unsuited to his position. But the encouraging part of the story is that Aiken Sheriff Michael Hunt, U.S. Attorney J. Strom Thurmond Jr. and other South Carolina law enforcement officials have proven themselves worthy of the public trust by treating Sharpe’s alleged misconduct as the abetting of a serious criminal enterprise — organized, illegal cockfighting in South Carolina. It’s an important moment, especially in a state sometimes known as the home of the fighting Gamecocks.

U.S. Attorney Thurmond indicted Sharpe on charges that he solicited and accepted payments from South Carolina cockfighters in exchange for information about a pending investigation of their activities. To the Humane Society of the United States, law-breaking by cockfighters is what we expect from them. Cockfighting interests make a daily habit of flouting both state and federal laws. They come up with one creative ruse after another to mask their true aims, claiming to conduct agricultural research, show gamefowl, and “test” birds, when their real intent is unmistakable: to stage bloody fights between animals armed with razor-sharp implements on their legs.

The principal problem in South Carolina is not the possible corruptibility of public officials, however. It is the state’s weak law on cockfighting. The penalty for cockfighting is a misdemeanor ticket and a maximum fine of $100.

The national campaign to halt cockfighting has seen many recent victories: Since 1997, a total of 14 states, including Arizona, Florida, Missouri and Oklahoma, in which the sport has traditionally flourished, have upgraded penalties for cockfighting. In 2003, a new federal law took effect that banned any interstate transport of fighting animals.

But the gains have been uneven. A number of states, such as Alabama, Arkansas and South Carolina, still treat cockfighting with the same degree of seriousness as they do a parking violation. In two states — Louisiana and New Mexico — cockfighting is still legal.

The weakness of South Carolina’s law, and the lax attitude of many state officials and law enforcement agencies, have made it a national refuge for cockfighting enthusiasts. One of the national cockfighting subscription magazines, Grit & Steel, is actually published in Gaffney. And an organized criminal network of cockfighters in the state stages illegal fights and sells birds to other cockfighters throughout the country, and indeed across the globe. A review of just one issue of Grit & Steel reveals multiple advertisements from cockfighters selling birds from $100 to $1,000 per bird.

Cockfighting is a social evil with demonstrable associations to violence and, in many instances, clandestine associations to drug dealing and illegal gambling. The presence of children at such events is particularly disturbing, as impressionable minds are left with the thought that adults consider it acceptable to watch animals hack one another to death, and to gamble on the outcome.

Nor is cockfighting a “victimless” crime. It is a cruel and bloody pursuit whose explicit object — the injury and killing of animals merely for human entertainment — contradicts standards of decency and empathy for other creatures. This spectacle has no real winners, as the hyper-aggressive birds gouge and hack one another, puncture lungs, and inflict other wounds in their fights to the death.

Citizens of South Carolina can be proud of public officials who have ably discharged their duties under state and federal law. But more needs to be done. A state law needs to be passed to make cockfighting a felony offense, in order to provide a real deterrent to individuals who would otherwise engage in the activity and treat the existing penalties as a minor cost of doing business. The barbaric practice of cockfighting should receive no protection under the law.

Mr. Pacelle is the chief executive officer of the Humane Society of the United States.