Case Details

Cockfighting - 127 birds seized
Santa Fe, TX (US)

Date: Mar 28, 2004
County: Galveston
Local Map: available
Disposition: Alleged

Alleged: Manuel Lopez Vargas

Case ID: 2123
Classification: Fighting
Animal: chicken
View more cases in TX (US)
Login to Watch this Case

A Santa Fe man Monday remained the only person charged in connection with an illegal cockfighting event.

Manuel Lopez Vargas, 52, was being held on $20,000 bond on a charge of cruelty to animals, and remains the only person charged in connection with an illegal cockfighting event. The charge alleges he ran a cockfighting ring that was raided by sheriff�s deputies over the weekend of March 28, 2004.

Deputies and Santa Fe police descended upon Vargas� residence about 2:30 p.m. Sunday detaining more than 100 people. Sheriff�s office detectives said Mon-day that the cockfighting enterprise was extremely organized and had likely been operating for quite some time.

Authorities stated, the whole thing took place in an old barn designed to hold chickens, with a ring in there and chicken coops that were made out of some pretty old wood.

Participating as a spectator at a cockfight is a Class C misdemeanor according to the SPCA, and law enforcement officials said they hoped that a full forensic investigation would yield additional charges and suspects. Burrows credited the Houston SPCA�s insight into such illegal events as invaluable to the ongoing investigation.

"Cockfighting, unfortunately, is fairly common,� said Alice Sarmiento, the director of development and community outreach for the Houston SPCA. �In fact, we were called out to a similar bust just last week. In the year and a half since I�ve been with the organization, though, we haven�t seen anything this big.�

The Houston SPCA was awarded temporary custody of 127 fighting birds following the bust and will fight in court to receive full custody.

For now, though, the animals remain housed in the SPCA�s facilities.

Sunday�s bust was perfect example of how the community can put an end to animal cruelty in their neighborhoods, she said.

It was a concerned citizen who called law enforcement in the first place.

Add this case to:   Del.icio.us | Digg | Furl Furl |

Neighborhood Map

For more information about the Interactive Animal Cruelty Maps, see the map notes.

Back to Top

References

The Daily News
The Texas City Sun
KHOU Channel 11 News
Click2Houston  
KHOU Channel 11 News

« TX State Animal Cruelty Map



Send this page to a friend
© Copyright 2001-2006 Pet-Abuse.Com. All rights reserved. Site Map ¤ Disclaimer ¤ Privacy Policy