Gilroy
– Six San Jose men were arrested and 58 birds lay dead after
Sheriff’s deputies broke up a cockfight in Gilroy.
Gilroy – Six San Jose men were arrested and 58 birds lay dead after Sheriff’s deputies broke up a cockfight in Gilroy.
An anonymous caller tipped off the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s office to the fight, which drew more than 30 men to the yard behind 8555 Marcella Ave. just after 2pm Saturday. When deputies and Animal Control officers arrived, most men fled, scaling fences and running to evade arrest. The deputies caught six men: Vidal Mendoza, 61, Loi Dat, 42, Jagatpreet Heerey, 38, Raymundo Romero, 44, Rafael Hernandez, 43, and Reynaldo Vargas, 28. All were cited and released for cockfighting charges, including attending a cockfight, owning cockfighting implements, and possession of illegal gamecocks.
“The guys who do this can be from anywhere,” said Sgt. Edward Wise, Sheriff’s office spokesman, “but it just happened to be that the guys they caught were from San Jose – probably because they didn’t know the area.”
All admitted that there were there to watch cockfights, but some said they didn’t know the sport was illegal, said rural crimes deputy Gabe Sandoval, one of the deputies to respond to the cockfight. Sandoval said the bust was the first successful one this year, after a number of calls reporting the telltale signs of roosters crowing and cars gathering at a single, crowded site.
Eight birds were already dead when deputies arrived, and 50 more were euthanized by Animal Control. Bred for aggression, the birds cannot be housed together, nor kept as pets.
Property owner Miguel Cardenas said he was unaware of the cockfights taking place on the property, which he rents to a man named Avilar Vidal, and was away at work when the arrests were made. Currently, no charges are pending against Cardenas, said Sandoval, who has yet to contact the owner.
The sport is legal in Mexico and the Philippines. Deputies uncovered cockfighting spurs, video cameras and vitamins, as well as two rifles and $5,200 in cash.
Animal Control is currently working on an ordinance that would limit the number of roosters legally kept on a single property, added Sandoval, a potential way to cut down on cockfights. Those who want to keep more birds would require a permit. The ordinance will go before county supervisors next month, Sandoval said.
