Fort Worth Cockfighting Raid Results In Arrests, Seized Birds

FORT WORTH, TX — Three men face charges after being arrested on Sunday morning at a cockfighting event at 4308 Windowmere Street. Police officers responding to a call about the cockfight came upon a group of people in the backyard of a residence that also contained a chicken coop and a fighting ring.

The officers discovered a scene of carnage that included the lifeless bodies of 28 hens, 16 roosters, and seven chicks. Police identified the arrested men as Andres Hernandez, 65; Melecio Diaz, 33; and Jorge Orozco-Carmona, 25. In addition, five men were given citations for being spectators at the fight.

Officers confiscated live birds — roosters, hens, and chicks — in the backyard as well, which had effectively been turned into a cockfighting center. In all, 141 birds, live and dead, were found.

"All 90 fighting roosters were humanely euthanized upon arrival to spare them anymore suffering," city spokeswoman Diane Covey said Tuesday in an email, as reported by the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. "Most were still wearing gaffs [spurs used in cockfighting], they were bleeding from wounds, and/or near death.”

The hens and chicks that were confiscated alive have been placed with area animal rescue groups, including the Humane Society of North Texas.

Covey said that Fort Worth Animal Shelter officials respond to about 10 cockfighting complaints a year.

The owner of the residence, Orozco-Carmona, told police officials that he charged spectators $20 each for admission to the cockfights and in return took a percentage of the betting earnings made by the organizers, Diaz and Hernandez.

All three men face cockfighting charges; Diaz was in the Mansfield Jail on Tuesday in lieu of $3,250 bail; he had also been detained by immigration officers. The bail statuses of Hernandez and Orozco-Carmona were unavailable, according to the Star-Telegram.

— Image: Wikimedia Commons/Amshudhagar