One person is in police custody after they busted a cockfighting operation in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. The SPCA say police broke up a cockfight at a home in Doylestown on Sunday after receiving an anonymous tip. The SPCA relocated 49 animals found at the property. Cockfighting is illegal in all 50 states.
Two more people have been charged in connection with a Bucks County cockfighting ring that was busted in February, according to court documents.
Manfid Duran and Mara Duran, of Doylestown, are both facing dozens of animal fighting and neglect of animal charges, court dockets indicated.
Mara, 50, and Manfid, 49, are facing 50 counts of animal fighting and 54 counts of various animal neglect charges.
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In February, police in Bucks County joined the Bucks County SPCA to bust an active cockfight in Doylestown.
Cesar Cordova-Morales, 21, of Oxford, has already been charged with animal fighting offenses and was arrested on Feb. 18 during the cockfighting bust.
According to a statement on the incident from the Bucks County SPCA, officers from the Plumstead Township Police Department raided a property along the 1000 block of N. Easton Road in Doylestown on Sunday afternoon, where they found about 25 people attending an in-progress cockfight at a ring built inside a two-car garage.
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Cordiva-Morales, allegedly, "was carrying a satchel containing several bottles of steroids, cutting instruments, string, artificial metal spurs, spur covers, and other items commonly used in cockfighting."
Officials with the Bucks County SPCA arrived to found 46 roosters, hens, and pullets kept in cages and small boxes in and around the garage, along with two more who were recovered from a locked vehicle in the driveway.
Also, officials said that they found four recently deceased roosters in a barrel behind the garage on the property.
According to the Bucks County SPCA, the caged animals had no food, inadequate shelter, and frozen water bowls. Also, they said many of the roosters had had their combs and wattles cut off, a common practice with birds used for fighting.
A comb is the fleshy growth that sits on top of the head of chickens, and a wattle is the fleshy growth that hangs down under their chin.
Other roosters were found to have injuries and deep puncture wounds likely the result of fighting, the Bucks County SPCA said.
Officials also said that an investigation of the property turned up razor sharp metal blades or spurs that are typically tied to the rooster’s legs to inflict maximum harm on their opponents.
"Cockfighting is a barbaric and sickening spectator sport, where people attach knives to the animals’ legs and thrill in the bloodletting," said Wayne Pacelle, president of Animal Wellness Action, which is leading a national campaign to eradicate the practice.
