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Cockfighting Raid Nabs 73 in NC

One rooster splattered blood on search warrant

By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff

Posted Feb 3, 2009 12:39 PM CST

(Newser) – North Carolina police arrested 73 people in an unexpectedly huge cockfighting raid over the weekend, crashing a barbaric $40,000 tournament in which a combatant rooster bloodied the search warrant, the AP reports. “I had no idea it would be this large,” the sheriff said. “I've raided these things before, and you get 20 or 25 people, you've got a big crowd. I thought that this was unreal.”

About 20 birds were dead when police arrived at three chicken houses, which had been cleared to accommodate the ring and covert parking spaces for spectators. A fight was in progress, and a rooster leaped onto the betting table, spraying blood on the investigators’ warrant. All 73 people, who ranged in age from 16 to 79, were charged with cockfighting and cruelty to animals, both felonies.

A man washes a winning rooster while the carcass of the losing bird lies in the trash, during a fight night at a cockfight arena in Barranquitas, central Puerto Rico, Nov. 11, 2006.
A man washes a winning rooster while the carcass of the losing bird lies in the trash, during a fight night at a cockfight arena in Barranquitas, central Puerto Rico, Nov. 11, 2006.   (AP Photo/Ricardo Arduengo)
A fighting-rooster trainer walks with a rooster to prepare it for a sparring session in Puerto Rico in this November 10, 2006 file photo.
A fighting-rooster trainer walks with a rooster to prepare it for a sparring session in Puerto Rico in this November 10, 2006 file photo.   (Getty Images)
An undernourished and injured rooster, seized in a cockfighting raid in the San Diego area, is seen in this Oct. 15, 2007, file photo.
An undernourished and injured rooster, seized in a cockfighting raid in the San Diego area, is seen in this Oct. 15, 2007, file photo.   (AP Photo/San Diego County District Attorney's Office)
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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 3 comments
Shannonals
Feb 4, 2009 2:42 AM CST
What's so entertaining about two animals ripping each other apart?
Guest
Feb 3, 2009 4:11 AM CST
Sicko's.
Caps
Feb 3, 2009 1:00 AM CST
I am glad they got caught. They should do to them what was done to Vick. Let them spend some time in the big house. This is cruelty to animals, and they should be punished.......

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