Man who ate bobcat pleads guilty

The west Morgan Hill man accused of killing and eating a bobcat pleaded guilty to the illegal possession of cockfighting tools and possession of methamphetamine, among other charges, according to authorities. 

Henry Arnibal, 38, pleaded Thursday at South County Courthouse, according to South Santa Clara County Deputy Supervising District Attorney Steve Lowney.

Arnibal also pleaded guilty to being under the influence of methamphetamine at the time of his Nov. 8, 2011 arrest, and illegally killing a wild bobcat, Lowney said. 

He will serve 120 days in Santa Clara County jail, and will be on court probation for an unspecified length of time, Lowney added. 

Santa Clara County sheriff’s deputies went to search the property on which Arnibal lived, near Sleepy Valley Road and Armsby Lane, with a warrant for an illegal marijuana garden Nov. 8, police said. They did not find any marijuana, but deputies located Arnibal who appeared to be under the influence of methamphetamine. 

Authorities also reportedly found about three-tenths of a gram of the drug in his possession. Also found on the property were seven cockfighting gaffs, implements that can fit over a rooster’s leg for the purpose of illegally fighting the animals, police said.

And authorities found a bobcat carcass on the property. It is illegal to kill a bobcat without a permit in California. 

Arnibal allegedly told police he ate the bobcat after killing it.

He also admitted he killed the wild animal because it attacked his roosters, police said. He shot the bobcat with a .22-caliber rifle, which was also found on the property. About 50 roosters were also living on the property.