It is fast, brutal—and a prosecutable offence in all 50 states (a felony in 37, a misdemeanor in the rest). Cockfighting has been around since the dawn of the republic and has remained stubbornly popular in parts of rural America, despite a concerted effort to stamp it out by critics who call it gruesome and cruel. A string of federal arrests last week is a sign of the crackdown. In a set of sweeps dubbed 'Operation Red Rooster' and 'Operation Tattered Wing,' federal agents raided homes and barns in Oregon and Washington, arresting 51 people for violating interstate transport laws and seizing more than 700 roosters, $100,000 in cash, 50 guns, and an assortment of illegal drugs. In cockfighting two roosters are fitted with blades on their legs, placed in a pit and made to fight until one is dead or badly wounded, while spectators who have bet on the outcome cheer the birds on. Here, a glimpse of what it looked like, as demonstrated in a series of photos taken in 2007 at Tommy’s Game Fowl Farm in Hobbs, N.M.
Comments