Cockfighting - 95 birds
Somis, CA (US)

Incident Date: Sunday, Mar 21, 2004
County: Ventura

Disposition: Not Charged

Abuser names unreleased

After raiding a cockfight in an orchard near Somis over the weekend, Ventura County officials said Monday that the illegal fights occurred on a weekly basis around the county and that arrests were tough to make.

Sheriff's deputies, acting on an anonymous tip, descended on an orchard on Los Angeles Avenue, where 50 to 75 people had gathered around a makeshift plywood ring, about 2:30 p.m. Sunday, said Det. Don Jennings.     
 
As deputies arrived, the spectators fled into surrounding fields and hills, Jennings said. No arrests were made. The property owner was not identified, Jennings said, and authorities did not know if the individual was aware of the event.

Deputies found 37 dead roosters at the scene. Fifty-eight live birds were found, but authorities euthanized all but seven, which are being kept as evidence.

Local cockfights are known to attract breeders and onlookers from Los Angeles and even as far as Nevada, Jennings said. Observers bet on the fights, and the amount wagered "can easily wind up being several thousand per match," he said.

But authorities have not made any arrests for cockfighting in the county since 2002, when 19 arrests were made in Fillmore, Jennings said. All but one of the 19 pleaded guilty and were sentenced to five days in jail and fined $500.

It is illegal to be a spectator at a cockfight, to possess accouterments and to raise birds for the purpose of cockfighting, authorities said.

All the crimes are misdemeanors, for which standard penalties are up to a year in county jail and fines of up to $1,000. However, recent state legislation raised potential fines to as much as $5,000.

Kathy Jenks, director of the county's Department of Animal Regulation, said the seven remaining birds found at the site near Somis were being housed at the animal shelter in Camarillo until they are released by the courts. They will then be destroyed.

References

• LA Times

« CA State Animal Cruelty Map
« More cases in Ventura County, CA

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