Animal control officers seize 500 cockfighting birds in San Diego County and 500 knives in Orange County

May 20, 2010 | 12:43 pm

More than 500 birds being bred for cockfighting were seized Thursday as animal control officers raided locations in San Diego and Orange counties.

The raids took place in the Pauma Valley in rural, northern San Diego County and the Orange County cities of Fullerton and Anaheim.

The investigation was prompted after a complaint by neighbors that horses on the property in Pauma Valley were malnourished. Investigators found over 500 birds at the Pauma location, which is owned by a 66-year-old man considered a suspect in the animal cruelty case.

At the Anaheim location, a restaurant, 400 knives that could be attached to birds' legs were seized, along with trophies and photographs. One hundred knives were also found at a home in Fullerton.

"Cockfighting is a brutal blood sport that has no place in a civilized society," said Dawn Danielson, director of the San Diego County Department of Animal Services.

California law makes it illegal to own or train a bird for fighting.

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