Escondido, CA - On Sunday morning, police raided a cockfighting ring in the rural section of San Diego County and arrested Martin Flores Padron, 39, the alleged owner of the operation.
Several others fled into the woods when police arrived, according to Escondido police Lt. Jim Stuard.
Padron has been charged with suspicion of animal cruelty and is being held on an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainer.
In all, 50 roosters were found and are now being cared for by the San Diego Humane Society.
This particular type of animal cruelty is becoming more commonplace across the country.
In November 2011, police arrested 17 people at a private home in Snohomish County, Washington, and seized over 50 roosters. All of the birds were euthanized.
How does illegal immigration figure into the spread of cockfighting throughout the United States?
The Daily Herald reported that half of the suspects taken into custody in the Snohomish County ring were illegal aliens.
Such was the case in Virginia in January 2007, when Mecklenburg County sheriff’s deputies took several illegal aliens into custody, including 22 gang members.
A total of 126 birds were seized in that raid.
Sgt. Mark Timmers of the Harris County Constable Precinct 6 told USA Today that in 2006 alone, his department seized 800 roosters from cockfighting rings in Houston.
Of course, due to Houston’s ‘sanctuary policy’ the city has a very large illegal alien population.
Cockfighting, while illegal and seen as cruel in the United States, is not only legal in Mexico, but it is also a culturally acceptable activity.
The travel website GuideMexico (http://www.guidemexico.info/articles/108) provides the following description of the activity:
“Cockfights are a common occurrence all over Mexico, as popular and part of the culture as charreadas and bull-riding rodeo activities and very common as late-night entertainment during village fairs and festivities, drawing crowds of men and women alike to place their bets and watch their chosen gamecock either rise to glory or bite the dust in the Palenques - what the cockfighting rings that are usually temporary structures set up for the occasion are called.
In Mexico, cockfights are a legal activity, regulated from a central entity in the Federal District (Mexico City) which licenses the sponsor and gives him the right and responsibility of assuring the regulations are followed and that order is maintained.
The stages of a cockfight are several:
- The cocks (gallos) are weighed in and matched up with their prospective contenders based on weight.
- A bird is brought out which will not participate in the fight, but which is used to bait the actual fighting cocks into action and build up its excitement and adrenaline.
- Stainless steel blades are selected and lashed securely onto the spurs of the birds. This step is carried out in the “ring” under the observation of the crowd and cockfight officials.
- The officials check the cocks and the manner in which the blades have been secured and assure all is according to regulation.
- The two fighting cocks are faced off in the center of the ring and the fight begins. Depending on the cocks, the fight can be a quick flurry of flying feathers and dust, or can last into a series of timed “rounds” until either one cock comes out the clear victor, or a stalemate is declared.”
Just as our unprotected border and lax immigration enforcement has allowed the spread of illegal aliens from Mexico throughout this country, their culture is being spread with them.
Wayne Pacelle director of the Humane Society of the United States told USA Today: “It's definitely on the rise. It's legal in a lot of places where there's significant immigration to the United States," he says. "You're seeing participation from people of those nations.”
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