Cock-fighting charges may be filed

A month-long investigation into cock fights at a home here found enough evidence to warrant charges of keeping a place used for fighting birds and instigating birds to fight, officers said.

Investigators raided the residence on Shetland Street last weekend and confiscated 27 birds. They also netted cock-fighting paraphernalia, including more than 50 razor-sharp knives and drugs used to stimulate the birds.

The owner of the residence has not been identified.

But the same man has faced cock-fighting charges before, Lyon County Animal Control Supervisor Mike Wellington said. He said the man and 28 others were arrested in Churchill County in 1997 for being at a cock fight.

The investigation started after animal control received several complaints from neighbors.

"We timed it then because we hoped they would be fighting that night but they were not," Wellington said.

The recommended charges have been referred to the district attorney.

Only roosters are used for fighting and they become very valuable. Wellington has heard of one fight going for more than $10,000.

"(Roosters) are naturally aggressive but they are bred and trained for fighting," Wellington said.

He said fighting roosters are identifiable because they have their combs, the fleshy crest on top of their heads, cut off and their spurs, the little toe-like knob found on their legs slightly above the feet, sawed off and replaced with a fighting boot that includes a metal spur.

Roosters either fight to the death or draw, he said.

"Around here it is to the death," Wellington said. "Unfortunately it is common. And it's real hard to find out where and when the fights are going to happen."

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