In what the Humane Society of the United States is labeling a possible end to the activity, 82-year-old Mike Ratliff is set to close his cockfighting school in the Texas town of Blanket after the final class graduated last month, the Fort Worth (Texas) Star-Telegram reported.

Yet Ratliff, who says he's never charged anyone for his two-week cockfighting course, maintains that his decision is not indicative of a lag in the activity's global popularity.

"The whole world likes it," he explained. "All of the South Pacific likes it. It's been a sport since the beginning of time. The Humane Society has pretty much knocked it in the head in the United States, but they can't stop it in Mexico, Central America, the South Pacific and Hawaii. It's the national sport in those countries."

Rather than teach others the art of cockfighting -- actual cockfighting is a felony in 15 U.S. states -- Ratliff told the paper he plans on simply retiring and taking care of his chickens fulltime.