Update: Roosters seized in cockfighting bust likely to be “humanely euthanized”

The fate of 39 roosters seized by the city Sunday after Fort Worth police busted a cockfighting match will likely not be put up for adoption, officials said.

“These are not pet roosters. These are raised to kill so the shelter will try to attempt to see if any of them can be rehabbed, but all the rest of them will be humanely euthanized,” Diane Covey, a city spokeswoman, said Tuesday.

The birds remained housed in individual cages at the animal shelter Tuesday. The city is expected to take ownership of them on Thursday.

The roosters were discovered after police responded to a report that cockfights were taking place in a warehouse, behind two large white buses, in the 1000 block of Tierney Road about 11:20 a.m. Sunday.

The caller told police that the cockfights — a blood sport between roosters in which the birds are fitted with razor-sharp spurs — were an ongoing problem that occurred every weekend.

Police had received a similar report less than two hours earlier, but officers were unable to find the cockfights, according to a police report.

At the warehouse in southeast Fort Worth, officers saw multiple vehicles parked in front of a large gated area and followed the sounds of screaming roosters. As they neared the area where two large white buses were parked, they heard noises and yelling and saw about 20 people running from the area and jumping fences.

“I observed live roosters in boxes and dead roosters lying on the ground,” an officer wrote in the police report. “I observed the main fighting ring.”

More roosters were found inside several vehicles, as well as crates and cages, bridles and gaffs and slashers — the sharp steel cutting instruments that attach to the roosters’ legs and feet.

Cockfighting offenses in Texas can range from a Class C misdemeanor to a state jail felony.

Three men were arrested at the scene: Robert Eugene Coleman, 56, Jose Quezada, 50, and David Barrera, 53. Quezada and Barrera had been holding roosters on the bed of their pickup, getting them ready for fighting when they were detained, the report states.

Tarrant Count Appraisal District records show that Coleman is one of two owners of the property.

During his arrest, Coleman asked to be taken to a hospital because of a heart condition. He was transported to a nearby hospital.

Tarrant County court records show Coleman had previously been sentenced to 20 years in prison in 1998 for the fatal shooting of his wife, Sheila Coleman.

Jurors found Coleman acted in “sudden passion” when he shot and killed the 33-year-old woman during an argument in their Fort Worth apartment the day after Christmas 1996. The couple’s teen daughter and 8-year-old son witnessed the shooting.

Coleman was released on parole in November 2013, according to Jason Clark, a spokesman with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.

This story was originally published February 29, 2016 at 11:18 AM with the headline "Update: Roosters seized in cockfighting bust likely to be “humanely euthanized”."