A total of 133 birds were seized by the Dallas police and the SPCA of Texas on February 12 in connection to a cockfighting investigation. All of the birds were found on a southeast Dallas property, and a civil custody hearing will be scheduled in the near future.
According to Fox 4, an anonymous tip was sent to the Dallas Police Department about a cockfight in progress. The case was investigated by the Dallas Police Department’s Animal Cruelty Unit, and they will determine what criminal charges, if any, will be brought forth.
Per CBS DFW, birds were found throughout the property. Eight hens were discovered, along with 125 roosters, two of which were dead and are believed to have succumbed to injuries sustained during a fight.
Some were in enclosures of wired cages within horse stalls, and investigators discovered specialized boxes used to transport the birds to and from their alleged cockfight destinations. They also spotted roosters with strings attached to their legs tethered to a post.
At the back of the property, authorities found where they believe the alleged cockfights were held. The exterior of the building looked like a shed, but the inside had a plywood structure forming a ring, which police presume is the pit where the fights took place.
“A scale and cockfighting paraphernalia, including gaffs (blades that attach to roosters’ feet), were also found,” CBS DFW reported.
The SPCA of Texas was on the scene to gather the birds and bring them to a facility to receive medical care. The 131 surviving birds were taken to be evaluated at Russell E. Dealey Animal Rescue Center in Dallas by medical staff.
The SPCA said that a lot of the roosters they saw seemed “lethargic and severely injured with multiple wounds.”
According to a Facebook post from the SPCA, cockfighting is a crime in all fifty of the United States. In Texas, causing birds to fight with one another or using property for cockfighting is a felony offense that can result in two years jail time and/or a fine of $10,000.
Texas law also states “it is a Class A misdemeanor to possess, manufacture or sell cockfighting paraphernalia, a Class A misdemeanor to own or train a rooster with the intent to fight the bird and a Class C misdemeanor to be a spectator at a cockfight,” the post emphasized.
