Cockfighting - 24 roosters seized Watsonville, CA (US) Incident Date: Saturday, Dec 31, 2005 County: Santa Cruz Local Map: available Disposition: Not Charged Abuser names unreleased

Case ID: 7118 Classification: Fighting Animal: chicken View more cases in CA (US) Login to Watch this Case

Santa Cruz County Animal Services Officer Todd Stosuy made another break in his campaign against cockfighting this week when he and a veterinary technician euthanized 24 roosters at a property on Carleton Road. Cockfighting persists in the county, despite state laws that deem the practice illegal. Santa Cruz County Sheriff�s Sgt. Christine Swannack, who has accompanied Stosuy on recent rooster raids, called the sport in which carefully bred and trained roosters are pitted against each other in deathmatches "cruel." "These are little pet athletes with a bloody end," Swannack said.

Stosuy had known of ongoing cockfighting but lacked the information he needed to find and take the birds, he said. However, based on new information obtained this month from a confidential informant, Stosuy has seized or euthanized 259 birds he believed were being groomed to fight.
The same informant had said a big fight was planned for the end of the month, though it will likely be canceled now. "We�ve pretty much taken all their birds from them," Stosuy said. The birds on Carleton Road were found with growth hormones in their systems and training equipment, including tiny covers for their beaks that allow them to learn to fight without hurting each other, he said. Possession of cockfighting training equipment is a felony, he added.

However, so far no one has been charged with cockfighting-related crimes. Instead, Stosuy said, those found responsible for the birds have agreed to move out of the county. "We�re hoping to get the word out there. We�re basically taking a hard-line stance to cockfighters in our area," Stosuy said. "We know were not going to stop cockfighting. We�re just trying to lessen it in our jurisdiction." The seizures cost the breeders a large amount of money. An individual rooster likely to produce offspring that win fights could be worth $5,000, Stosuy said.

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References

Register Pajaronian - January 2006

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