Birds plucked, tortured at North Texas cockfighting training facility, sheriff says
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One person was arrested last month at an illegal cockfighting training facility where birds were groomed, tortured and mutilated in Parker County, according to the Sheriff’s Office.
Animal Control officers responded to a home in north central Parker County for an animal welfare check, the Sheriff’s Office said in a news release on Tuesday.
Ernesto Roacha Ramirez was arrested on suspicion of cockfighting and cruelty to livestock on March 31 and is being held in the Parker County Jail without bond. Ramirez, who was living illegally in the United States, was placed on a hold for a deportation hearing by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, according to the release.
Birds half burnt, tortured and ‘live plucked’
Investigators found many dead and partially burnt chicken carcasses in a burn barrel and several wounded chickens that had injuries from cockfighting, the Sheriff’s Office said.
Deputies found birds that had been “live plucked,” with feathers removed from their bodies — a practice used to condition roosters for cockfighting, according to officials. Investigators also found several birds had their leg spurs cut short to fit metal blades, giving them a “killing advantage” in fights.
Many birds at the property were being kept in single transport containers. Investigators recovered two hundred chicken coops, many of which contained dead birds along with bottles of injectable anabolic steroids and antibiotics along with wing tags, the release stated.
During the initial phase of this investigation, 28 roosters and 14 hens were seized and taken to a local veterinarian, who determined the birds had “endured cruel and unnecessary treatment at the hands of their owner and caretaker,” the release stated.
According to the vet, there were no medical reasons for these birds to have been live plucked or to have their spurs cut so short and “these acts would cause unnecessary and unjustified pain to the animals and is consistent with the definition of torture.”
An additional 359 birds were rescued from Ramirez’s home on April 2, and the birds were taken to the Weatherford Animal Shelter, where they will receive proper care and medical treatment, authorities said.
“Whether it swims, flies, walks, or crawls, we take animal cruelty cases very seriously here in Parker County,” Sheriff Russ Authier said in the release.