2 arrested, 300 roosters seized in Puget Sound cockfighting ring, officials say
Two people were arrested and more than 300 roosters were seized after a state investigation into a cockfighting ring near Port Orchard, according to the Washington state Gambling Commission.
The bust happened at a fight Saturday at the rural Kitsap County property, a Gambling Commission news release stated.
“Cockfighting is a brutal blood sport that is almost always operated solely for the purpose of conducting illegal gambling,” agency director Dave Trujillo said in the release.
According to the release:
The Gambling Commission received multiple tips over the past few years about a cockfighting ring hosted at a rural property near Port Orchard. Investigators found the property owner hosts fights on the weekends, but that participants bring their own birds.
The birds are drugged to increase aggression and have barbs or blades attached to their legs before they're put into a small ring and fight to the death.
Wagers on the fights run from $100 to $2,000 per fight, and the property owner takes a cut of the profits as well as a fee to dispose of the dead bird.
Agents, alongside law enforcement officers from throughout the region, went to the home Saturday, where they seized breeding records, barbs and more than $35,000 in cash from the owner.
The hundreds of roosters at the property were euthanized because they were too aggressive to be rehabilitated.
Two men, ages 56 and 57, were arrested and booked into Kitsap County Jail on suspicion of professional gambling, animal fighting, ownership in a gambling device and leading organized crime. Another man was arrested for refusing to give his name to law enforcement officers.
Officers detained 24 other people at the property for attending an animal fighting event, a felony. Charges are being referred to Kitsap County prosecutors in the case.
Kenny Ocker: 253-597-8627, @KennyOcker
This story was originally published June 4, 2018 at 5:43 PM with the headline "2 arrested, 300 roosters seized in Puget Sound cockfighting ring, officials say."