Posted on Fril, Jan. 30, 2009 10:15 PM

Cockfighting case ends quietly, but fuels efforts to make the activity a felony in Kansas

By JOE LAMBE
The Kansas City Star

The first cockfighting case in modern Johnson County history began with a two-year investigation of a massive chicken operation at a rural homestead near Gardner.

Police watched in secret from the air and ground, raided the place last June among a cacophony of crowing roosters, and found more than 170 of them that they said were trained to fight. The aggressive birds were soon euthanized, along with about 100 hens and more than 300 chicks. The egg-to-grave operation was said to have possible international connections.

But a case that began with so much effort and noise all but ended quietly this week, fueling efforts to make cockfighting a felony in Kansas.

Advocates note that cockfighting is a felony in 37 states, including all that surround Kansas. Arkansas lawmakers this week passed a bill to make it a felony, and the governor was expected to sign it.

“It’s just so outrageous that this goes on, especially that it went on in my neighborhood,â€