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HTML Attachment [ Scan and Save to Computer ] http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/20071019-9999-1n19fight.html More Metro newsRaid reveals a nest of ruthless training Gamecock facility was 'birth to

death operation' By David Hasemyer UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER October 19, 2007 NANCEE E. LEWIS / Union-Tribune Animal care attendant Jennifer Jordan watched as Jill Jones, an officer with the county's Department of Animal Services, captured a gaming bird at a San Ysidro ranch Wednesday. Thousands of fighting roosters were found during a raid Saturday. Thousands of fighting roosters found at a San Ysidro ranch last week were destined for rings as far away as Hawaii and the Philippines, where they are prized for their aggressive temperament, law enforcement officials

said. Although a few fights may have been staged at the 7-acre compound, the primary business was raising and training the birds as combatants in a blood sport that is reviled in some countries but embraced as a family pastime in others. Law enforcement authorities and national humane society officials said the well-organized operation was the largest gamecock site ever busted in the United States. “What we found here was a birth to death operation,” said Lt. Daniel Desousa of the County Department of Animal Services. Birds going to the Philippines, where cockfighting is embraced as a legal sport, command as much as $2,000 each. A single egg can fetch as much as $1,000, Desousa said. “Birds from the United States are prized for some reason,” he said. “They seem to believe the American birds may be of better blood lines and more aggressive.” Gamecock fighting has been a problem in the United States

for years, prompting all states except Louisiana to pass laws outlawing the activity. Earlier this year, a federal law made gamecock and dog fighting a felony punishable by a fine of up to $250,000 and three years in prison. But the federal law does not apply to raising and training the birds, so the estimated 50 people arrested in the San Ysidro raid are being charged under California law, which makes raising the birds or staging the fights a misdemeanor with a maximum sentence of a year in jail and a $5,000 fine. Almost 4,500 breeding hens and gamecocks were found at the facility, which is less than a mile from the U.S.-Mexico border and is ringed by barbed wire and gates secured with heavy padlocks and chains. The cocks had been pumped with steroids and other strength-enhancing drugs, officials said. To build their stamina, they were placed on a slant board so they would be forced to flap their wings and pump their

legs to regain their balance. To hone their killer instincts, they were pitted against one another in nonlethal sparring matches, with small gloves instead of the traditional blades attached to their legs. In cockfighting, nature's order is suspended, Desousa said. If two roosters cross paths in a barnyard, the weaker bird usually backs down quickly, with little bloodshed. But aggressiveness and meanness is prized in fighting cocks. A bird that doesn't strut never makes it to the ring. “These birds go and go and go at each other until one drops,” he said. “The natural instinct is bred out of them and replaced with blind aggression.” Fighting birds jump and lunge with explosiveness that Desousa described as “all-out rage.” They slash and slice deep wounds until their vibrant red, gold and green feathers are dulled with blood. To demonstrate, Desousa took a leg blade and effortlessly sliced through a piece of

paper. “You can imagine the damage this will inflict to a bird's chest,” he said. “These birds are reduced to a bloody mess.” Participants pay up to $500 to enter their birds in fights, and spectators pay as much as $25 to watch the spectacle. Thousands of dollars are typically gambled on the fights. When a champion bird dies, its owner often severs one of its feet as a keepsake. When a bird wins big, the owner often walks off with a trophy as well as cash. Plans for the raid on the San Ysidro ranch began about six months ago, when an animal services officer began watching the compound from a nearby hillside. He recorded the license plates of dozens of bird owners and then identified them though photographs obtained from the state Department of Motor Vehicles. As a hundred or so officers from the San Diego Police Department, the Sheriff's Department, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Naval Criminal Investigative Service swarmed the compound Saturday, search warrants were executed at the homes of 10 people seen frequently at the compound. Inside the mazelike complex, authorities found shipping crates with addresses in Hawaii and the Philippines. Exporting fighting birds is a federal felony, but owners circumvent the law by listing them as farm animals. The bird owners were given citations and released. They are expected in court in December. Deputy District Attorney Sherry Thompson said she expects to begin reviewing cases next week, looking for repeat offenders to charge with felonies. The fact that cockfighting is a misdemeanor in California rankles District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis, County Animal Services Director Dawn Danileson and Eric Sakach, West Coast director of the Humane Society of the United States. They hope publicity from the San Ysidro raid will lead to legislation with stiffer penalties. On

Wednesday, the birds exploded in a fury of flapping wings and hysterical cackling as animal services officers continued the job of capturing and euthanizing them. An injection of sodium pentobarbital left birds lifeless in seconds. Desousa said his department had to kill the animals. The sinewy birds were unsuitable for cooking and couldn't be turned loose as farm animals because of their inbred meanness. “When you consider the fate of these birds, being slashed and slashed then left to bleed to death, then euthanizing them is humane,” Desousa said. While officers carried away dead animals, Keung Xayarath showed up to feed his birds. He said he knew nothing about cockfighting. “They are for meat and eggs,” was his explanation, which Desousa said has been a common first response from many owners. David Hasemyer: (619) 542-4583; david.hasemyer