Birds bought for cockfighting
Vineland, NJ (US)Incident Date: Thursday, Sep 11, 2008
County: Cumberland
Disposition: Alleged
Alleged: Josque Arroyo
A city man has been charged with buying fighting animals after police and SPCA officials followed a tip that fighting roosters were being delivered to a Cherry Street home Thursday.
The man, Josque Arroyo, of the 400 block of Ithaca Avenue, had not yet been found Friday, but the 36-year-old could face additional charges -- including federal offenses, Cumberland County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Executive Director Bev Greco said Friday.
The case began Thursday when SPCA officer Debbie Young reportedly received an anonymous letter advising that fighting roosters were going to be delivered to a home in the 100 block of Cherry Street that afternoon.
When officers arrived, the residents led them to the basement and showed them three boxes containing birds, according to police reports.
One box allegedly contained a rooster with no spurs, comb or waddles, the report said. The second box reportedly contained a rooster with no tail or spurs, while the third box allegedly contained two young roosters, according to the report.
A packaging slip found with the birds indicated they were shipped from Puerto Rico, police said Friday.
One of the residents told police her nephew, Arroyo, had the birds shipped to her home "to eat," the report said.
Nobody at the Cherry Street home was charged.
The initial charge against Arroyo carries a potential sentence of three to five years in prison and a fine of up to $5,000.
"Obviously if they're shipping in fighting birds, they're going to fight them," she said. "This does go deeper. If these roosters are coming from Puerto Rico, we want to stem the flow. We want to stop these activities outside of New Jersey as well as within."
"On that level, we have to start thinking," she added, "is there an event planned? This is the first report of this type that we've received." References« NJ State Animal Cruelty Map
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