Humane Groups Sue Monterey County Rooster Operation; Lawsuit Alleges Connection to Cockfighting

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Feb 16, 2022, 15:05 ET

MONTEREY, Calif., Feb. 16, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- On February 16^th, the California-based Humane Farming Association (HFA) and Illinois-based Showing Animals Respect and Kindness (SHARK) filed suit in Monterey County Superior Court against two Monterey County residents for the operation of an alleged gamecock farm in Salinas, California. According to the lawsuit, "On information and belief, defendants' tenants raise roosters for sale in support and furtherance of the illicit and cruel cockfighting industry with defendants' knowledge and consent."

Link to complaint online: https://hfa.org/pdf/monterey-lawsuit-2022.pdf

The lawsuit comes on the heels of an August 2020 lawsuit in which HFA and SHARK sued Monterey County officials for their failure to enforce the County's 2014 rooster ordinance, which intended to curb cockfighting by requiring individuals with five or more roosters to obtain a permit from the County.

Acting on evidence HFA and SHARK provided to the Monterey County Civil Grand Jury in 2019, the Grand Jury investigated and revealed that there were an estimated 1,000 illegal rooster-keeping operations in the County. Despite this stunning revelation, not a single permit had been issued by the County for the keeping of roosters. This allowed rooster operations to flourish in the County, with owners housing thousands of fighting birds, in plain view, in ramshackle conditions with impunity. Permits are only to be issued to rooster operations where birds are raised for legitimate agriculture, hobby, or educational purposes.

Inexplicably, the County now appears to be in the process of permitting illegal rooster operations.

Certain breeds of rooster are bred nearly exclusively for the purpose of supplying cockfighting enterprises, including Kelso, Roundhead, and Hatch. Yet, on July 9 and August 24, 2021, the County issued permits to the defendants authorizing the breeding and keeping of birds on their two properties. According to the defendants' permit applications, defendants assert they will raise up to 125 hens and 500 roosters of the breeds Kelso, Roundhead, and Hatch on their properties.

"Monterey County should be shutting down, not issuing permits to, these rooster-keeping operations," said HFA National Director Bradley Miller. "These facilities violate both the letter and the spirit of the County's rooster-keeping ordinance, which was enacted specifically to crack down on cockfighting."

Cockfighting is a blood sport in which two roosters specifically bred for aggression are placed beak to beak in a small ring and encouraged to fight to the death. This includes instances of roosters having knives strapped to their legs and being conditioned for fighting through the use of steroid injections. As the new lawsuit points out, cockfighting has been linked by the National Sheriffs' Association to gangs, firearms, human trafficking, gambling, and narcotics offenses. The defendants in this case, like scores of gamecock farm operators throughout Monterey County, house roosters in individual enclosures to prevent the birds from fighting with, and killing, each other; a housing environment commonly used for roosters raised for illegal cockfighting enterprises, the complaint alleges.

The Humane Farming Association and Showing Animals Respect and Kindness are represented by Jessica Blome of Greenfire Law, PC.

Photos and video are available upon request.

About HFA
The Humane Farming Association (HFA) is dedicated to the protection of farm animals and operates the nation's largest farm-animal sanctuary. Founded in 1985 and over 270,000 members strong, HFA is nationally recognized for its groundbreaking anti-cruelty campaigns.

About SHARK
Showing Animals Respect and Kindness (SHARK) is an animal protection organization that works internationally and specializes in high-tech investigations exposing cruelty to a wide variety of animals.

Contact: Gail Eisnitz, Humane Farming Association (HFA) (828) 299-1246
[email protected]

SOURCE Humane Farming Association