Authorities found more than 150 roosters at a property used for
cockfighting on the 100 block of Maher Road on Sunday, Monterey
County sheriff’s deputies reported. A 41-year-old Watsonville man,
Francisco Tapia, was arrested because he lived at the home,
authorities said.
Stephen Baxter
Authorities found more than 150 roosters at a property used for cockfighting on the 100 block of Maher Road on Sunday, Monterey County sheriff’s deputies reported.
A 41-year-old Watsonville man, Francisco Tapia, was arrested because he lived at the home, authorities said.
About 10:30 a.m. Sunday, deputies responded to a report of a cockfight at a home on Maher Road. Several people scattered as deputies arrived, and authorities found 150 live roosters and 16 dead ones, according to the Sheriff’s Office.
Deputies cited and released seven suspects on suspicion of being spectators at a cockfight and for resisting arrest, authorities said.
The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals of Monterey County took 38 of the chickens to its shelter and the rest were impounded in place, said SPCA spokeswoman Beth Brookhouser. Five of the roosters have been euthanized and the rest are likely to follow because they are difficult to place, according to the SPCA.
The birds are bred to fight and kill other birds, Brookhouser said. The animal shelter requires that they be housed in separate cages to prevent them from attacking one another.
“Unfortunately cockfighting is a big problem in Monterey County,” Brookhouser said. “We see cases like this about once or twice a year.”
Monterey County allows homeowners to have 499 roosters without a permit, while neighboring counties like Santa Cruz allow far fewer, Brookhouser said.
Possessing roosters for cockfighting is difficult to prove unless there is a cockfight in progress, she said, and the SPCA is trying to change the permitting rules in Monterey County.
Allowing fewer than a half-dozen fowl on a property without a permit would allow for 4-H projects and other chicken projects, she said.
Some Monterey County poultry breeders oppose the proposal because they said it places an unfair financial and bureaucratic burden on lawful operations. They said the county already has laws that deal with cockfighting and fowl noise.
Besides the animal cruelty aspects, Brookhouser said previous cockfight suspects have been involved with gambling, drugs and guns.
“It’s a horrible situation for the birds,” Brookhouser said.
The SPCA of Monterey County encourages people to report animal cruelty and neglect by calling its confidential hotline at 371-2631 or by visiting at www.spcamc.org.
