RIVERSIDE, Calif. — Authorities broke up a large cockfighting event over the weekend and said they were forced to euthanize nearly 150 roosters found at a Southern California home, animal control and sheriff’s department officials said.
Deputies late Friday discovered about 200 people at the residence in the city of Jurupa Valley and “evidence of an illegal cockfighting event and multiple deceased or severely injured birds,” the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department said a statement.
An additional 143 birds were found in cages on the property about 50 miles (80 km) east of Los Angeles, the statement said.
Officers with the county’s Department of Animal Services gathered all of the live roosters “and humanely euthanized them, a process that lasted until about 6 a.m.,” according to a statement from that agency.