{"id":50520,"date":"2017-05-17T14:00:09","date_gmt":"2017-05-17T21:00:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=50520"},"modified":"2017-05-17T14:19:25","modified_gmt":"2017-05-17T21:19:25","slug":"la-county-police-cockfighting-ring","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/la-county-police-cockfighting-ring\/","title":{"rendered":"Los Angeles Police Bust Biggest Cockfighting Ring in US History"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/b><\/i>A raid by Los Angeles<\/a> police Tuesday on a rural property in Val Verde, Los Angeles County, uncovered what authorities believe to be the biggest cockfighting ring in US history.<\/p>\n

\"Police
The 7,000 birds retrieved at the compound in LA County could be worth anything from $350,000 to several million dollars, police said. Many had injuries consistent with cockfighting. (Image: Dolores Ochoa\/AP)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Law enforcement seized 7,000 birds from the 80-acre compound, many of which had injuries consistent with cockfighting.<\/p>\n

They also retrieved numerous hooked razors, known as \u201cgaffs\u201d or \u201cslashers,\u201d which are attached to the birds\u2019 talons, as well as syringes and steroids, which are typically used to bolster a bird\u2019s fighting ability.<\/p>\n

Sheriff\u2019s Captain Jeff Perry said that the raid was the culmination of a month-long joint investigation involving the police, the Los Angeles County District Attorney Bureau of Investigation, and several animal rights organizations.<\/p>\n

Thousands Wagered on Each Match<\/b><\/h2>\n

Since gamecocks can sell for anything between $75 to $150 each to $1,000-plus for \u201cprize fighters,\u201d police believe the value of the birds seized in Tuesday\u2019s raid to be anywhere from $350,000 to several million dollars.<\/p>\n

In a news conference Tuesday, officials said that cockfighting is often a hotbed for other types of criminal activity, including illegal gambling, tax evasion, drug abuse and violence. Thousands of dollars can be wagered on a single match, authorities said.<\/p>\n

Eric Sakach, the senior law enforcement specialist for the Humane Society of the United States<\/a>, said several local residents had voiced their suspicions to authorities that cockfighting was taking place on the property but the scale of the operation had surprised everyone.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Gruesome Spectacle <\/b><\/h2>\n

Sakach later told ABC7 that the \u201cgaffs\u201d style of fighting was particularly gruesome.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

“The bird is being repeatedly stabbed to the chest area,\u201d he said. \u201cIt’s not unusual to hear a bird to start to vomit up or regurgitate blood.<\/p>\n

\n

“You’ll often see these guys put the bird’s head in their mouth and suck the blood out of the bird’s throat because that may buy the bird a few extra seconds of breathing to be able to attack its opponent and win the fight.”<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\u201cThese guys are gamblers,\u201d he added. \u201cThey bank on the idea that they\u2019re not going to get caught.\u201d<\/p>\n

Around 10 people were arrested during the raid but authorities said they consider to be lower level figures in the operation. The owner of the property has been identified but remains at large.<\/p>\n

“Any kind of animal blood sport activity will not be tolerated in Los Angeles County,\u201d said Perry. \u201cIf anyone has information about any type of animal blood sport activity, I urge you to call your local law enforcement agency.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A raid by Los Angeles police Tuesday on a rural property in Val Verde, Los Angeles County, uncovered what authorities believe to be the biggest cockfighting ring in US history. Law enforcement seized 7,000 birds from the 80-acre compound, many of which had injuries consistent with cockfighting. They also retrieved numerous hooked razors, known as […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":50523,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21,60,1074],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nLA County Police Bust Biggest Cockfighting Ring in US History, Thousands of Birds Seized<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Police seized 7,000 birds, as huge a cockfighting operation was uncovered in LA County on Tuesday worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/la-county-police-cockfighting-ring\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"LA County Police Bust Biggest Cockfighting Ring in US History, Thousands of Birds Seized\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Police seized 7,000 birds, as huge a cockfighting operation was uncovered in LA County on Tuesday worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/la-county-police-cockfighting-ring\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-05-17T21:00:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2017-05-17T21:19:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/cockfighting.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"400\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Casino.org Staff Writer\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Casino.org Staff Writer\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/la-county-police-cockfighting-ring\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/la-county-police-cockfighting-ring\/\",\"name\":\"LA County Police Bust Biggest Cockfighting Ring in US History, Thousands of Birds Seized\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/la-county-police-cockfighting-ring\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/la-county-police-cockfighting-ring\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/cockfighting.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-05-17T21:00:09+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-05-17T21:19:25+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/8c48bf89dc86da77b4d856c7b3b78d77\"},\"description\":\"Police seized 7,000 birds, as huge a cockfighting operation was uncovered in LA County on Tuesday worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/la-county-police-cockfighting-ring\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/la-county-police-cockfighting-ring\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/la-county-police-cockfighting-ring\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/cockfighting.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/cockfighting.jpg\",\"width\":600,\"height\":400,\"caption\":\"The 7,000 birds retrieved at the compound in LA County could be worth anything from $350,000 to several million dollars, police said. 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