Cockfighting supplies, 4 roosters seized
Boise, ID (US)Incident Date: Sunday, Jan 8, 2006
County: Ada
Disposition: Alleged
Case Images: 1 files available
Abuser names unreleased
Officers discovered evidence of cockfighting at a home near Ustick and Five Mile on January 8, 2006 when they were investigating what appears to be an unrelated shooting at the residence, Boise police report.
A woman who lives in the home in the 9800 block of Sussex Drive was shot in the ankle after a short scuffle between her husband and two men who came over around 11:45 p.m., police said. But police say there is no evidence at this point linking the shooting and what appeared to be a setup for illegal cockfighting in the home, police spokeswoman Lynn Hightower said. Officers found four roosters, several fighting pens, and other cockfighting equipment in the garage of the home, according to Idaho Humane Society reports. The woman's injury did not appear to be life threatening, Hightower said.Boise police are still trying to identify the man who shot the woman through the door of her home and determine a suspected motive, Hightower said. "Everything is under investigation at this point," she said.
When police arrived, witnesses told officers that two men had arrived at the home a short time earlier, and the woman's husband answered the door. A short altercation ensued, and as the woman's husband attempted to close the door, one of the men fired a gun and a shot hit the ceiling of the home, witnesses told police. At that point, the woman and her husband closed the door, and one more shot was fired, police said. A bullet went through the door and hit the woman in the ankle. The 39-year-old woman was taken to a hospital for treatment, according to Boise police reports. Other family members were in the home at the time of the shooting, but they were not injured, police said.
Boise police seized portable fighting rings and other cockfighting equipment, including metal fighting spurs that are attached to the feet of the birds, making the fights more lethal. Idaho Humane Society officials impounded the four birds as evidence.
No one had been charged in connection with the cockfighting materials. Cockfighting is a misdemeanor in Idaho but difficult to prove because it is legal to own the pens and the razor-like fighting spurs, Idaho Humane Society Community Outreach Coordinator Susan Clark said Monday. Most convictions require evidence of the birds actually fighting, Clark said. Hightower said discovery of cockfighting materials is unusual in the Boise area, but Clark said she suspects cockfighting is a regular occurrence in the Treasure Valley. However, she said, the fights are almost impossible to discover early enough for investigators to catch people in the act.
Clark said that if Boise police decide not to file misdemeanor cockfighting charges against the residents of the home, the Humane Society will. The Humane Society has urged the Idaho Legislature to make cockfighting a felony. Most cockfights are to the death, Clark said. The birds recovered from the residence on Sussex did not appear to be injured, she said. References
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