Over the weekend, authorities broke up a major cockfighting event and claimed they were forced to euthanize over 150 roosters discovered at a Southern California residence, according to animal control and sheriff’s department officials.
Deputies spotted roughly 200 individuals at the property in Jurupa Valley late Friday, as well as “evidence of an unlawful cockfighting event and many slain or seriously damaged birds,” according to a statement from the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department.
An additional 143 birds were discovered in cages on the site approximately 50 miles east of Los Angeles, according to the statement.
According to a statement from the county’s Department of Animal Services, officers collected all of the live roosters “and humanely exterminated them, a procedure that lasted until around 6 a.m.”
“The birds must be killed since Animal Services cannot adopt out such expensive birds, and they nearly invariably wind up back in a cockfighting ring. They are not fit for keeping as pets “according to a statement from the agency
An unnamed guy who informed authorities he owned the birds was penalized for possession of combat blades used in cockfighting, a misdemeanor, according to officials. The probe is still ongoing.