OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Animal control officers and sheriff’s deputies raided a cockfighting event in eastern Nebraska and found 11 dead roosters and one that had to be euthanized, an official said.
Cass County deputies arrested 32 people and Nebraska Humane Society officials seized 186 birds at a farm near Louisville on Saturday after receiving a tip about a cockfighting event there. The 32 were arrested on suspicion of participating, viewing or promoting cockfighting. Two juveniles were detained and released to their parents.
The Humane Society employees and deputies also found hundreds of hook-shaped razor blades inside the barn, which is about 20 miles (32 kilometers) southwest of Omaha. The blades are attached to the birds’ feet so they can slash opposing birds.
“There are slashing injuries. There’s blood on the birds. It just makes us sick at the Nebraska Humane Society, and it should outrage the community that individuals go to these blood sport events, bet money and put these birds through what they do,” Humane Society vice president Mark Langan told Omaha television station WOWT .
“We’re taking care of the birds, but it’s a massive effort,” he told the Omaha World-Herald on Monday. “It takes at least eight employees to properly clean the cages, feed and water the birds.”
Outside groups have offered to help care for the roosters, but nothing has been decided, Langan said.
An Omaha man was arrested last September for running a cockfighting operation in southeast Omaha. Animal control officers confiscated 20 roosters.