Dallas Police Bust Cockfighting Ring That Attracted 200 Gamblers

Dallas constabulary make confused upward a cockfighting ring inwards the city, seizing to a greater extent than 100 weak and injured roosters.

Police received a 911 claim on Feb 12, according to the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) of Texas. The call in reported that around 200 people were actively gaming on cockfights on a attribute in the Rylie region of Dallas.

Responders found 133 roosters and hens on the property. The birds were kept in conducting wire cages or tethered to a brand past strings on their legs.  The SPCA, which was called inward to help take away the birds, said deadened roosters were found throughout the property.

“Many of the roosters appeared to live unenrgetic and severely injured with multiple wounds,” the SPCA said. “Other birds were found already deceased, having succumbed to injuries from fighting.”

Slashers and Gaffs

At the rearwards of the prop was a big cast off that housed a plywood anchor ring or pit, where the fights potential took place. Cockfighting paraphernalia was also discovered, including “gaffs.”

Also known as “slashers,” these are hooked razors attached to the talons of the birds as they fighting to the death. Sometimes roosters are injected with steroids to growth their fighting hostility potential.

In Texas, it is a felony to reason birds to fighting single another and to usage the property for the purposes of cockfighting. That comes with a possible ii years in a body politic poky and a maximum $10,000 fine.

Meanwhile, it is a Class A misdemeanour to possess, manufacture, or sell cockfighting paraphernalia, or to educate a rooster with the intent to utilisation it for fighting. It is a Class C infraction to be a viewer at a cockfight.

The vitrine is beingness handled past Dallas Police Department’s Animal Cruelty Unit, which is yet to harbinger any charges.

Incident Not Isolated

While illegal cockfighting to a greater extent commonly occurs inwards rural areas of the United States, on that point have got been several recent incidents inward the Dallas–Fort Charles Frederick Worth metroplex area, according to The Dallas Morning News.

In Apr 2021, authorities reclaimed nearly 300 birds from a large-scale cockfighting ring inward the metropolis of Grand Prairie, Dallas County. Police said the functioning was worth $500,000.

In August 2019, constabulary seized around 200 roosters inward Balch Springs, in the southeastern quoin of Dallas. a yr earlier, 48 roosters were seized from another performance based in Balch Springs.

Cockfighting is illegal inward all 50 US states but is culturally recognized and effectual in often of South America. In the Philippines, it is considered the subject sport, and “the World Slasher Cup” is a pop one-year televised event.

The Filipino governance late began taxing and regulating online cockfight betting, topically known as “e-sabong.”