Cockfighting: A Consistent Problem in South County

News of a cockfighting bust in Watsonville surfaces every year or two, which makes Sunday's discovery of 61 roosters dressed for cockfighting uncomfortable but not shocking for many.

The underground betting sport pits roosters against each other in a fight to the edge of death. It can involve high-stakes bets and big payoffs for winners. 

An anonymous tip led county Animal Services officers and sheriff's deputies the cockfighting ring in rural Watsonville raided Sunday. It was tucked behind several strawberry fields and down an embankment in the woods. 

“There is nothing entertaining about putting small knives on roosters and betting on who will kill the other," Todd Stosuy, Field Services Manager of Santa Cruz County Animal Shelter, said in a prepared statement released Monday. "It is callous, unethical and illegal.”

Cockfights often are held in private homes or clandestine locations to elude law enforcement. Armed guards and security cameras sometimes protect the operation, which can see thousands of dollars change hands in just a few minutes.

"A rooster with a winning lineage can be worth up to $10,000, and a cockfighting purse can be as high as $50,000," Watsonville's Register Pajaronian newspaper reported in 2007.

The Humane Society of the United States describes cockfighting as a bloody form of animal cruelty.

Fighting birds are equipped either with tiny spurs or miniature knives, which are lashed to their ankles. They often are bred specifically to fight, making it difficult for roosters rescued from fighting rings to adjust to regular farm life. 

"In a cockfight, two roosters fight each other to the death while people place bets. Cockfighters let the birds suffer untreated injuries or throw the birds away like trash afterwards," according to the Humane Society's webpage.

But cockfighting is a very old tradition in much of Asia, where it remains legal. In Mexico, it's considered a part of the culture and fights draw families. The "sport" was introduced to Mexican farm workers and ranchers centuries ago by Europeans, who learned about cockfighting from Chinese traders. 

In the U.S., cockfighting is illegal is all 50 states and a felony in 39. But fights persist in communities across the country. 

Multiple cockfighting operations have been busted in the Pajaro Valley in recent years. 

In 2011, eight people were ticketed when Monterey County sheriff's deputies raided a cockfighting ring at a Royal Oaks home. Authorities discovered 16 dead birds there and 150 fighting roosters.

Three years before, 250 birds—some roosters trained to fight—were discovered at a Calabasas Road property along with steroids, breeding logs and photos of cockfights. One man was convicted of possessing fighting birds, a misdemeanor.

Nearly 50 aggressive birds were seized from a property on Paulsen Road in 2007 from a man who told local media he would breed fighting roosters—and likely be busted—again.

Anyone with information related to cockfights can receive up to a $5,000 reward from the Humane Society of the United States for information that leads to the arrest and conviction of a cockfighter. Call 1-877-TIP-HSUS

What do you think: is cockfighting cultural or criminal? Tell us in the comment section below.