52 arrested after suspected cockfighting event in Fulton Co.
5/4/2014DELTA, Ohio — Fulton County authorities cited 52 people and confiscated 72 live roosters after breaking up a suspected cockfighting event near Delta today
Deputies responded to a report of shots fired in the area at 11:09 a.m. and found people running away from a barn where the roosters were found. The property was at 9786 County Road N, in Royalton Township.
Other evidence was seized in addition to the birds, deputies said without elaborating.
The misdemeanor citations included animal fighting/spectator and aider and abettor.
Deputies said many of the suspects who fled later returned to the property.
The citations were issued to 26 Indiana residents while 17 others were from southeastern Michigan communities. Nine citations were issued to Ohio suspects from Delta, Swanton, Napoleon, Oakwood, Continental, Holland, Lyons, and Weston.
The sheriff's office was assisted by officers from the Delta and Wauseon police departments, as well as the Ohio Department of Natural Resources ad the Fulton County Dog Warden.
In 2011, Toledo police arrested 12 men in a cockfighting bust at 1029 N. Huron St.
Cockfighting is a centuries-old sport in which two or more specially bred birds, or gamecocks, are placed in an enclosed pit to fight, according to information on the Humane Society of the United States Web site.