Birds, Drugs, Cash Found During Cockfight Raid

Oakland police broke up a cockfight over the weekend, arresting 69 people and seizing more than 100 roosters and $4,400 in cash, police said.

The raid took place Saturday at a warehouse at 745 Santa Clara St. during a cockfight that police said drew about 100 spectators.

Inside the warehouse, animal control officers found two roosters in the fight pit, 80 live birds and 10 dead birds. One of the roosters in the fight pit was dead and the other was dying. Outside in a hole in the yard they found 28 recently killed birds.

Police said the birds would fight with gaffs (extremely sharp knives) attached to their feet. Roughly half of the live roosters were moderately or severely injured.

Animal control officers euthanized all of the live roosters because of their extreme aggression and brought eight hens back to the shelter for adoption.

Sixty-seven of the 69 people arrested were cited and released. Two men were taken into custody, police said.

One of the men, who said he was a resident, was charged with allowing cockfighting on the premises. The other was charged with aiding and abetting because he tried to grab the birds after the raid began, police said.

In addition to the roosters and the $4,400 in cash, which was confiscated from the yard and from spectators, police impounded five cars and seized boxes of cockfighting paraphernalia including gaffs, steroids, antibiotics and fight logs.