(Credit: Fresno County Sheriff's Office)
Four men in Fresno were arrested last Friday after deputies broke up a huge cockfighting operation that involved more than 100 birds.
Deputies reported finding trash barrels filled with dead roosters.
As law enforcement rolled up on the illegal operation, a roll-up door opened and about 100 people ran out. Some ran to their cars and others ran out into fields.
Deputies found:
- A rectangular fighting ring
- Boxes used for cages
- Scales for weighing birds
- Cash
- Receipts
They also found
- 25 dead roosters in trash cans
- 10 injured roosters
- 114 live birds
Some of the live birds were running around. They were sent to the Central California SPCA.
48-year-old Thomas Crow was arrested on felony charges of cruelty to animals. Javier Arreola, 47, Job Hernandez, 34, and Javier Cerda were arrested on misdemeanor charges of being spectators at an animal fight.