Nearly 50 arrests in California cockfighting raid
Jan 10, 2012, 3:26 PM
VICTORVILLE, Calif. (AP) – Nearly 50 people have been arrested and 92 birds seized during a raid on a Southern California desert cockfighting operation.
Days before the Sunday morning raid, San Bernardino County officials announced a crackdown on the illegal blood sport and released a video of roosters slashing at each other with steel blades attached to their legs.
The Victorville Daily Press (
http://bit.ly/zTHmXL) reports about 300 people attended Sunday’s cockfight in a barn arena in the Baldy Mesa area, a community between Victorville and Hesperia.
Property owner Fernando Hernandez and most of the spectators fled when deputies showed up.
Forty-seven people were arrested, mostly for being spectators. Six were booked for investigation of animal cruelty.
There were about 20 dead roosters. Deputies seized 92 live birds and about $21,000.
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Information from: Daily Press,
http://www.vvdailypress.com
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