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Officials nab dozens for cockfighting in McBee

By BOBBY TEDDER
Morning News

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Dozens of people hailing from both Carolinas have been arrested in connection with the discovery of a large cockfighting ring in Chesterfield County, authorities there say.

The bust occurred in a wooded area off McKenzie Road in McBee on Saturday morning.

Between 60 and 80 people were taken into police custody on charges of cockfighting and animal cruelty, and they might face additional charges. Most - about 80 percent - were from Darlington and Kershaw counties in South Carolina, and Robeson and Scotland counties in North Carolina, Chesterfield County Sheriff Sam Parker said late Saturday afternoon.

A plethora of chickens and equipment used in the illegal operation were seized as evidence at the scene. Agents also confiscated thousands of dollars in cash and nearly two pounds of marijuana on the ground near the fighting pits and in vehicles there.

Saturday's arrests are the culmination of an off-and-on investigation into cockfighting in Chesterfield County that began when Parker took office two years ago.

"We've missed out a couple of times before," Parker said. "We've been made aware of cockfighting activity in this area, but have been unsuccessful in finding the location until today."

After being tipped off Saturday morning, sheriff's deputies and officers from Chesterfield County Animal Control converged on the McBee site. Some as yet unidentified people suspected of being involved in the cockfights were able to flee the scene on foot, but investigators "intend to find out who they are," the sheriff said.

Participants apparently were vying for the top honors, investigators say, with the winner to be awarded a 5-foot high trophy with inscription that reads "2005 Cock Fighter of the Year."

"Unbelievable," Parker said.

At press time, investigators still were trying to determine who owned that property because none of the suspects took credit for the land or any of the aforementioned there.

Called a centuries-old blood sport by animal-rights activists, cockfighting has been the subject of increased statewide media scrutiny.

The practice, primarily conducted for gambling purposes, entails the placement of two or more specially bred birds, or gamecocks, in an enclosed pit to fight. Typical exhibitions can last anywhere from several minutes to more than half an hour.

The birds' natural spurs are regularly sawed off and replaced by razor-sharp steel blades or curved metal spikes measuring as long as 3 inches in length, according to an Animal Protection Institute report.

Officers at Saturday's sting in McBee described the scene as a virtual fowl wasteland.

About 100 chickens were discovered on the site, several of them dead. The birds had been assigned to fight in either of four separate rings under en-closed canopies.

"It's very trashy, very nasty and bloody," Parker said of the scene. "It's very unsanitary, very depressing when you see all those dead chickens lying on the ground ... Just looked like a death arena."

State legislators, seeking to crack down on the practice, are currently mulling a bill that assesses tougher penalties on those convicted of cockfighting.

If enacted, the legislation would make cockfighting a felony punishable by as many as five years in prison and a $5,000 fine.

Also under the proposed law, law enforcement would be given forfeiture authority for property used in connection with animal fighting.

Currently, under a 100-year-old law, the crime is a misdemeanor, carrying a maximum $100 fine and as many as 30 days in jail.

This weak law rarely is enforced, because authorities must catch the perpetrators in the act, which is virtually impossible, say officials at the Animal Protection Institute.

Having passed the House earlier this year, the bill is at present pending in the Senate.

Because of its mostly rural land mass, Chesterfield County recently has been targeted to serve as headquarters for clandestine criminal enterprises such as cockfighting discovered on Saturday.

"We just don't have the ability to patrol everywhere," said Parker, "but, hopefully, we can make a dent in it."

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