Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, February 5, 1991 TAG: 9102050305
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B1 EDITION: STATE
SOURCE: MONICA DAVEY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BEDFORD LENGTH: Medium
Homeless.
Judge J.C. Crumley III had been scheduled Monday to decide the fate of the gamecocks, seized during the raid of a cockfight Jan. 26.
But with few options to choose from, Crumley agreed to put off the chicken-custody decision while the attorneys involved try to work out an agreement.
After hearing testimony from law enforcement officials who made the bust and seized the birds, Crumley accepted prosecutor James Updike's assertion that the birds had been treated cruelly.
Colorful roosters with long metal spurs strapped to their legs were put together inside two fighting rings in a barn off Virginia 747, according to testimony from a Roanoke vice squad officer who was called into Bedford for the cockfighting bust.
"They would rush toward each other and knock each other down by pecking each other and trying to spur each other," Detective M.A. Lee told the judge.
Some 50 spectators watched from bleachers, bought hot dogs, candy bars and soft drinks at a homemade concession stand and yelled out bets on their favorite fighting birds, Lee said.
During breaks in the action, owners of the birds stroked their animals' beaks and heads to get feathers out of their mouths. The owners ended up with blood on their hands, he said.
While charging some of those at the fight with cruelty to animals, attending and participating in a cockfight, investigators also seized some fight equipment, Bedford County investigator J.W. Huddleston told the judge.
Tackle boxes filled with spurs and spur-sharpening files were found, he said. In one tackle box, investigators found syringes and a bottle of liquid labeled "caffeine."
Updike said the evidence revealed the owners of the gamecocks were not fit to care for them.
Eight people - all of whom were charged - have claimed ownership of the various birds. Most of them sat in the courtroom Monday, hoping to get their birds back.
Drew Davis, attorney for the owners, said his clients were perfectly fit to handle the cocks. Although investigators testified that they found eight rooster corpses that night, the 46 birds in question were a separate matter, Davis said.
"I've heard no evidence that any were used or were going to be used in the fight," Davis said. "Except for three, they were uninjured, not in any dilapidated condition."
Davis also questioned whether Lee and another Roanoke detective had the authority to make a bust in Bedford County. All of it, Davis said, added up to "insufficient evidence to further detain these chickens."
But Crumley ruled the roosters had received cruel treatment and "that the folks named here might have a likelihood to do the same thing again in the future."
By state code, his choices were to put the birds up for public auction, place them up for adoption or to put them to death.
Updike said that the last option was the only choice, "sad as that is."
"What Mr. Updike is saying is don't let them fight, but let's kill them," Davis said, arguing that the birds should be allowed to live. In a cockfight - not by itself against the law - the birds at least had a "fighting chance," Davis said.
Crumley, too, said he was troubled about putting the birds to death.
So he asked whether the owners would sign promises not to fight chickens again if he agreed to return the birds.
After a closed-door conferences with his clients, Davis returned to say that his clients "have collectively decided they will never again fight chickens in Bedford County."
Those last three words of the pledge prompted snickers from the rooster owners and even from some of the investigators.
The judge wanted more - no fighting these birds anywhere. And Updike wanted some sort of cash bond to go along with any promise.
After another closed-door conference, Updike and Davis agreed to put off the issue for a few days to see if an agreement could be reached. A new court date was not set.
The 46 gamecocks did not attend the hearing Monday, and investigators have adamantly refused to say where they're keeping the birds.
A county animal warden did offer some hints Monday about their well-being. She said the aggressive birds were being held in separate cages, given 6 ounces of feed and some water and were allowed out daily for a walk.
"I take care of them as I take care of my own," the warden said.
by CNB