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70 roosters dead after cockfight bust
last updated: May 19, 2008 04:00:40 AM
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Deputies busted up a cockfight Sunday in an orchard east of Denair, citing five men and finding about 70 roosters, more than half of them dead, authorities reported.
"It was like a regular party," said Sgt. Larry Seymour of the Stanislaus County Sheriff's Department. "There were drugs left behind, steroids for the roosters. And little campsites with beer and sodas. There was a vendor out there making carnitas and selling fruit."
When deputies arrived about 1:30 p.m., 40 to 50 people fled in all directions. Participants left 23 cars in the orchard. They were parked under the trees, Seymour said, to avoid being spotted by the Sheriff's Department's two helicopters.
About 45 birds were dead when officers arrived. Animal Control officers euthanized the 25 that were found alive in the orchard, several miles off East Keyes and Bledsoe roads, Seymour said.
The Sheriff's Department learned about the fights Sunday when the rancher who owns the property was told by an employee about the gathering. The Sheriff's Department has had multiple calls about rooster fights in the same area during the past few weeks, Seymour said.
The five men deputies caught received misdemeanor citations on suspicion of possessing rooster fighting paraphernalia and attending a rooster contest, he said. Their names were not available Sunday night. Officers hope to locate other fight participants through vehicles left in the orchard.
Deputies found dozens of sets of spurs, which are attached to the birds' feet for fights. Many of the animals had been left half alive in a pile. Fight participants had been getting ready to dig a hole and bury them, Seymour said.
Authorities found scales for weighing the roosters before the fights and tally sheets for gambling on the matches.
"The money was gone," he said. "They took the money and ran."
Bee staff writer Emilie Raguso can be reached at eraguso@modbee.com or 578-2235.
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