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Cops swoop down on cockfighters
Biggest ring in Canada raided

David Carrigg
The Province

Friday, February 29, 2008

The property where police swooped down on a suspected cockfighting ring Thursday.
CREDIT: Global BC
The property where police swooped down on a suspected cockfighting ring Thursday.

Surrey Mounties have raided a massive cockfighting ring.

B.C. SPCA spokeswoman Lorie Chortyk said warrants were executed on three Surrey properties during a 24-hour period ending Thursday.

Chortyk said the cockfighting ring was the largest ever shut down in Canada.

"It is the largest investigation and warrant involving cockfighting in Canadian history," she said.

The raids involved 11 Mounties, 14 SPCA special constables, SPCA vets and three Surrey bylaw officers.

Chortyk said more information will be released Friday.

A Global TV crew attended one of the farms raided. According to the news report, a cameraman was assaulted by a man who was visiting the farm. (See the Global report in "Related Links" at right.)

Two farm workers were interviewed as they left the property.

One worker stated there was no cockfighting going on at the farm.

He said that after the raid, hundreds of birds were killed by SPCA workers.

"They are talking about cruelty to animals," he said. "They are the ones being cruel. They strangled, they twisted the heads of the chickens. They killed all of our chickens. We are talking about hundreds."

The farm, worth $1.6 million, covers several hectares and has a complex of large sheds, including holding areas for chickens. Global TV said the property is owned by a couple who bought the farm in 1998.

Cockfighting is legal and widely accepted in parts of Asia and Latin America. However, it is banned in Canada and most of the United States.

Most cockfights involve gambling.

In 1998, 39 people were arrested in connection with a suspected cockfighting ring at a home on Thorn Street in Burnaby. Three were charged and one was convicted.

Three years later, SPCA officers seized 41 birds from the same Thorn Street house after police stumbled on a suspected cockfighting ring while investigating a shooting in the neighbourhood.

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© The Vancouver Province 2008