Well, we sure can’t say it isn’t happening here.
Albuquerque police broke up a cockfighting operation on Sunday and confiscated six fighting roosters, some with razor blades and other lethal attachments. One rooster was dead. Another was severely injured.
About 20 people fled when police arrived at the Southeast Albuquerque home. Police said the alleged main organizer, 30-year-old Adolfo Gonzales, will be summoned to court to face cockfighting charges. Eleven other people received citations.
Jessica Johnson of Animal Protection New Mexico says the nonprofit has received numerous reports of illegal cockfighting since the state outlawed the barbaric death matches in 2007, the second-to-last state to do so.
“The most important thing at this point is that local law enforcement takes reports of dogfighting or cockfighting seriously, investigates, and justly pursues charges, just like the Albuquerque Police Department did in this case,” Johnson told the Journal. “It matters to the roosters and dogs saved from the torture inflicted on them by animal fighters, but it also sends a ripple effect that reverberates a strong message: abject cruelty and violence against even the smallest beings are not acceptable in our communities and in our state.”
Beyond the abuse of animals, authorities say cockfighting and dog fighting go hand in hand with other criminal activity, such as illegal gambling, money laundering and drug and weapons trafficking. Perhaps that’s why the 20 spectators fled in various directions?
APD deserves a lot of credit for dedicating resources to busting up the operation. We hope the District Attorney’s office grabs the baton and with APD continues to send the message this kind of violent, bloody, criminal behavior is savage, unacceptable and will be prosecuted.
This editorial first appeared in the Albuquerque Journal. It was written by members of the editorial board and is unsigned as it represents the opinion of the newspaper rather than the writers.
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