Six Arrested In Cockfighting Bust

SACRAMENTO COUNTY, Calif. (CBS13) -- A raid on an alleged cockfighting ring led to the recovery of more than a dozen birds and the arrest of six suspects, deputies said.

The Sacramento County Sheriff's Department said they received a tip just before noon Sunday that alerted them to an illegal bird fighting operation in progress on the 9000 block of River Road.

Deputies broke up the gathering with support from K-9 units and law enforcement helicopters, scattering a group of as many as 50 suspects from the trailer with a wood-sided ring built along its side.

"This was a fight property, people from all over came to the one property for the event," said Sacramento County Animal Control Officer Dave Dickinson.

At least one bird had already been killed and dozens more injured. When the birds can longer gouge each other with sharp razor blades, they are destroyed by the cockfighting ring leaders, animal control officers said.

"In this particular case there was a burial pit out there. We did find one live bird in the pit," Dickinson said. "[They] usually throw some oil, light them on fire."

Six men were arrested at the scene for cruelty to animals, authorities said. They have been identified as 35-year-old Jose Pimental-Lopez, 34-year-old Jose Magdaleno, 32-year-old Rafael Gallegos-Herrera, 27-year-old Alejando Jimenez, 30-year-old Luis Navarro and 39-year-old Vicente Hernandez.

Birds raised for fighting tend to be too aggressive to put up for adoption, and animal control officers expect most of the birds to be euthanized in a couple weeks.