SULPHUR, La. (AP) — In what state police called the first raid on a Louisiana cockfighting operation since the state outlawed the blood sport last year, authorities issued 37 misdemeanor citations, seized almost $60,000 and confiscated 600 birds.
State police said some 250 Texas and Louisiana residents attended the cockfight at the Little Bayou Club in Sulphur on Saturday afternoon. Trooper Stephen LaFargue said 30 troopers invaded the club, which is believed to have been in existence for more than 20 years.
A state police news release said 12 summonses were issued for cockfighting, two for gambling and 23 for contributing to juveniles’ delinquency.
LaFargue said Monday night that officers seized $59,872 and were still interviewing three suspected ringleaders.
Saturday’s raid was the result of an investigation that began almost four months ago, after a resident who lived near the club called the state police gaming office in Lake Charles.
“We brought in workers from the national Humane Society to help us,” said Rita Cavenaugh, Calcasieu Parish Animal Services director.
LaFargue said he spoke to one man who said he had been attending fights at the location since he was a boy.
“The owner had been operating the ring for so long when cockfighting was legal,” he said. “I guess he found it too lucrative and decided to take the risk of keeping it going.”
Cavenaugh said that during the investigation, Animal Services also received complaints from neighbors.
“At these events, it’s common to have drugs and illegal weapons,” she said. “This is a safety hazard for neighbors, and people sometimes bring children to this.”
LaFargue said authorities found no guns or drugs, but that he did see several children.
The facility, inside a metal building, was set up like an arena, with stadium seating.
“Many of the dead roosters were just thrown under the stadium seats,” LaFargue said.
Cavenaugh said injured roosters had been put back in their cages and were probably left to die there, and that others that were alive were badly injured, malnourished and dehydrated.
“Just about all of them will have to be euthanized,” Cavenaugh said.
Conviction under Louisiana’s cockfighting law includes misdemeanor penalties including up to six months in jail for the first two offenses. A third offense is a felony punishable by at least a year, and possibly three years, in prison.—-Contact The Daily Reveille news staff at [email protected]