No suspects in Abbotsford cockfight day

Lena Sin
The Province

Sunday, July 20, 2003
Robert Fullerton was appalled when his neighbour told him cockfighting matches were going to be held in the barn near his Abbotsford farmhouse.

"I was invited to watch," said Fullerton. "But [they] said, 'You'll be in some serious trouble if you make a fuss.' "

So when a dozen cars pulled up at 11 a.m. on May 24 at the rented farm Fullerton shares with his neighbour, he knew it was time to leave.

Trapped by cars blocking his vehicle, Fullerton, 61, went into the barn to find his neighbour. Inside, there was a crowd of 30 people standing in a circle, cheering and yelling as two roosters went at each other.

"Some of them had money and all of them had liquor," he said. "They were cheering as these roosters were killing each other."

The mostly male crowd spoke Spanish, he said.

Fullerton and his wife left and returned at 5 p.m., only to find the cockfighting was still going on. The matches lasted until 10:30 p.m.

The next morning, Fullerton and his landlord walked into the barn and found bottles of beer, rye, gin and 10 dead roosters strewn across the floor.

"I know it's a custom in Spain and Mexico but this is not Spain or Mexico," he said. "We have laws here that deal with . . . cruelty to animals."

Fullerton's landlord, Harjit Pulka, cleaned up the mess.

After three days, Fullerton decided something had to be done and phoned the SPCA. Worried that it might happen again, Fullerton finally contacted police June 22.

"We don't have any firm suspects," said Sgt. Mark Schulz of Abbotsford police. "People don't want to talk. You almost have to catch them in the act."

Fullerton said he recently overheard his neighbours talking about another cockfighting match and this time he's determined to stop it. "I want people charged," said Fullerton.

This is Abbotsford's first report of cockfighting this year. Typically, police get one to two reports each summer, said Schulz.