Ten men believed involved in fight where several dead and bloody
roosters found
Morgan Hill – As many as 10 men are believed to have been involved in illegal cockfighting that occurred last Saturday afternoon at a local barn.
Santa Clara County Sheriff’s deputies made no arrests after the illegal fight was reported in an unincorporated area west of Morgan Hill and east of the Uvas reservoir, at the intersection of Armsby Lane and Sycamore Avenue.
Santa Clara County Sheriff’s spokeswoman Dalia Rodriguez reported deputies found 8 to 10 roosters, several of them bloody and dead and one injured.
The deputies also found tools associated with cockfighting, Rodriguez added. During cockfights, special spurs are attached to the roosters’ legs to augment their natural spurs.
But as sheriff’s deputies arrived, the men apparently involved in the incident ran into the hills, she said.
To raise roosters for cockfighting, a certain amount of space is required, as well as privacy so the fights can go undetected.
The original call to the Sheriff’s office dispatcher indicated that as many as 40 individuals were at the barn watching the fights.
During typical fights, those watching bet on the outcome. The roosters are usually placed in a makeshift arena, beak to beak, and then released. They then attack, using beaks, spurs and claws. Many times the fight continues until one of the roosters dies; sometimes the fight is stopped when one or both are badly injured, but the birds may die later from their injuries.
Cockfighting is a misdemeanor in California and has been against the law since 1905.
Regional Animal Control Commissioner Greg Van Wassenhove said it is not only the illegal nature of the practice and the animal cruelty that concern his agency, but the fact that birds used for fighting are often moved around from location to location in large groups.
“If avian flu was to become a problem, then that’s a population that could be considered potential spreaders of the disease,” he said.
Though his department has investigated reports of cockfighting over the years, Van Wassenhove doesn’t believe there is a significant problem, except the possible avian flu complication.
“In the six years I’ve worked for the department, I’ve only dealt with two cases,” said Morgan Hill Animal Control Officer Daniel Pina. “It’s not really a problem for the city. I would assume that as the area becomes more metropolitan, people involved in that kind of thing are pushed out.”
Rodriguez said the Sheriff’s office receives reports of cockfighting occasionally and has responded to calls about the same location in the past.
“By the time officers arrive on the scene, there’s usually no one there,” she said. “This time, officers were able to see the suspects running into the surrounding hills.”
Morgan Hill police Cmdr. Joe Sampson said he was aware of a similar incident in September, but did not believe cockfighting could be considered a growing problem in Morgan Hill.
“We hear about it in areas where there is still county living from time to time, but it doesn’t really come up on our radar as much,” Sampson said. “Ninety percent of it happens to be in (Sheriff’s office) area, probably due to the logistics.”
