OLYMPIA, Wash. — A series of cockfighting ring busts in the last year are bringing a public light to something law enforcement agents say has been occurring for years—rings of all sizes where thousands of dollars are on the line in bets and bloodlines.
“You are seeing an uptick in it whole investigators know that uptick has already been there,” said Sam Moore, the founder and president of the Washington State Animal Fighting Task Force.
KIRO 7 News is the only TV news outlet in Seattle to interview a colleague of Moore’s—an undercover agent with the Washington State Gambling Commission who has seen the ins and outs of the operations for more than 20 years. From the south to the Pacific Northwest, he says the operations are similar, though things like the illicit drugs used as stimulants to entice intense fighting out of the birds, may be different. Cocaine is used in some places, in Washington the agent says methamphetamine is the substance of choice, in addition to antibiotics and blood clotting drugs to help the animals last longer in a fight.
“Anything to get them barbaric or stimulated,” the agent said.
The agent has busted small backyard fights with only a couple of birds to rings with more than hundreds. In every fight he’s been to, thousands of dollars are on the line from entry fees, disposal fees, commission for the promoter, referees, and property owners, as well as the bets themselves.
“It’s endless,” he said, “The person who organizes the fight they’re going to be in charge of the main betting, then the people who come to watch their betting between each other.”
In addition to the stimulants, the preparation of roosters for fighting is graphic and the subject of many of the animal cruelty charges that come from the investigations.
The combs and waddles—the fleshy, vascular areas on top of the head and below the beak—are cut off so a bird is not as likely to bleed out during a fight. Part of the talon is clipped off to strap sharp, curved blades called ‘gaffs’ to be used during the fight.
“The night of a fight, these animals don’t quit. They will keep going and keep going until their bodies give out until they have no choice but to quit.”
The agent says, in many cases, the end of a fight is when one rooster is killed.
The fights themselves are a magnet for other issues, including drug dealing, prostitution, sexual assaults, weapons and even homicide. Moore says she has seen children as young as five years old on hand to witness it all.
“A lot of these are family events or at least children are exposed to it, whether it is people bringing children to see it or whether they are just growing up in the environment,” she said.
A bust of a ring outside of Yelm last week seized more than 550 roosters. According to court documents, one of the suspects claimed he was raising the birds for other people. The agent and Moore say that, arguably, is the more lucrative side of cockfighting—the bloodlines of birds that go back generations, just like the families who are raising them.
Some birds are sold for a hundred dollars. This agent is aware of the sale of roosters that went for more than $40,000.
“It’s the prestige,” he said, “You have the people that buy the birds to fight them, then you have the people who own game farms where they raise the roosters and ship them out to across the United States.”
Moore says, that during her time working in South Carolina, she would trace birds back to the West Coast. Now working in Seattle, she’s traced birds to the east coast.
“It’s definitely a coast-to-coast business. It’s a spider web of a business,” Moore said, “It’s about how many fights have been won [and] where the bloodline started.”
With more than a decade investigating these kinds of crimes, Moore says she has picked up plenty of things to look out for that show signs of cockfighting. She has received tips on starving animals, large numbers of animals coming on and off properties, roosters housed and tied to barrels on properties and regular parties, which are all things that started investigations that led to arrests.
“Anytime someone may feel like something is going on, I always say, just file the complaint. Let us know...it’s our job to figure out whether or not it’s legitimate, we need to know about it first.”
Moore has been seeking funding to turn her task force into a state agency, allowing her to train and give tips to law enforcement officers and prosecutors across the state on the nuanced things she knows to look out for that are tell-tale signs for tips.
“Whether it’s the documentation, the finances the little things here or there you may miss because you don’t know to look for it. We simply just want to help and give you what you need to prosecute these cases successfully,” Moore said.
Tips can be submitted to the Washington State Animal Fighting Task Force.
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