Cockfighting - 40 birds - Coleman Falls, VA

Sunday, Dec 14, 2008

County: Bedford

Charges: Felony CTA
Disposition: Alleged

Alleged: Avery Fitzgerald

Case Updates: 1 update(s) available

Bedford County Sheriff's Office investigators have suspected for years that a Coleman Falls man was involved with cockfighting, Sheriff Mike Brown said Tuesday afternoon.

Tuesday morning [Dec 23, 2008], sheriff's deputies arrested Avery Fitzgerald and charged him with two counts of selling animals for fighting purposes.

Capt. Mike Miller said Fitzgerald sold two fighting roosters to undercover deputies; one on Nov. 9 and the other on Dec. 14. The roosters were purchased for about $100, Brown said.

Selling a rooster for fighting purposes is a Class 6 felony in Virginia punishable by up to five years in prison on each count.

"This was a pretty large operation," Brown said.

During the investigation, he said, deputies found a fighting pit, betting cards and metal spurs to be attached to the roosters' legs to enhance their ability to hurt their opponents.

"We suspect there was cockfighting there, but it's up to the commonwealth's attorney as to whether there will be other charges," the sheriff said.

Bedford County Animal Shelter operator Rebecca Mitchen said the staff there is taking care of about 40 roosters until the courts decide what to do with them.

"They will be fed and watered on a daily basis and we'll clean their cages," Mitchen said. "We'll do our best to take care of them."

Mitchen said chickens aren't complete strangers to the shelter, but she's never seen 40 fighting roosters at one time. Because they've been bred to fight, she said, handlers will have to use safety gloves and the roosters will have to be separated from each other.

Miller said no sick or injured animals were taken Tuesday and that the roosters are in very good condition.

A hearing will be scheduled soon to determine whether the county can rightfully keep the animals from Fitzgerald. From there, he said, once Fitzgerald's criminal case is decided, the judge will decide what to do with the roosters.

Case Updates

The provisional custody of 39 roosters suspected of being used for cockfighting has blossomed into a learning experience of sorts for Bedford County authorities. After arresting and charging Avery Fitzgerald of Coleman Falls on Dec. 22 with two counts of selling the animals for fighting purposes, the Bedford County Sheriff's Office placed the birds at the county's animal shelter. Once Fitzgerald's criminal case is decided, a judge will determine what to do with them. In the meantime, shelter employees have spent the past several days adjusting to the roosters and seeing to their care, said Scott Polinek, operations manager. "We have no idea how long they are going to be here," said Polinek. "You just have to deal with it." The shelter is mainly used for companion animals. However, Polinek said the agricultural setting of the county usually leads to animal control officers bringing in an array of animals like horses, donkeys, cows, goats, sheep and pigs. But the shelter never has received so many birds at one time. Maj. Ricky Gardner of the sheriff's office referred to the roosters' confiscation as a rare but "eye-opening" experience that could help the department as it deals with such cases from now on. Through "divine intervention," Polinek said the shelter had cat cages on hand that on the brink of getting thrown away. They now house the roosters with a tarp overhead directly behind the shelter's facility on Falling Creek Road. The roosters were crowing loudly this week, joining with nearby noises of barking dogs within the shelter. "We're trying to figure out how long they will be with us," he said. "This is obviously a temporary facility here." "If we hadn't had these cages, I don't know what we would have done," said Michael Stokes, a county employee who also coordinates with the shelter. "Now that we have thought through it, something like this could happen again. We're just going to end up keeping these cages for these hopefully rare situations when they come up." The roosters have been treated by local veterinarians and appear to be in good health, though they have shown some aggressive tendencies toward each other, Polinek said. They have to be separated in their own cages with handlers wearing gloves as a precaution. Investigators suspected for years that Fitzgerald had been running a cockfighting operation. Capt. Mike Miller said Fitzgerald sold two fighting roosters to undercover deputies. Selling a rooster for fighting purposes is a Class 6 felony in Virginia punishable by up to five years in prison on each count. Fitzgerald is scheduled to face a preliminary hearing Jan. 5 in Bedford County General District Court.

Source: WSLS - Jan 2, 2009 Update posted on Jan 3, 2009 - 5:15PM

References

• News & Advance - Dec 23, 2008

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