Police bust cockfighting ring north of Toronto; 70 people charged

Last Updated: Wednesday, February 18, 2009
CBC News

York Regional police say they have uncovered a cockfighting ring north of
Markham, charging 70 people from across the Toronto region and Quebec.

The alleged ring was discovered on Feb. 14 when police officers and
officials from the Ontario SPCA went to a home in the Town of East
Gwillimbury to check out a report of animal cruelty.

Police said they discovered numerous dead and live roosters in a barn on the
property and rounded up 70 people at the home.

The following day police returned and found six dead roosters and 74 live
birds, which were euthanized by a veterinarian.

Det.-Sgt. Dieter Boeheim said the scene in the barn was graphic.

"The scene I saw on Saturday ranks right up there with the worst things I've
seen in policing," he told CBC News.

"It's absolutely disgusting and heinous. It's a blood sport ‹ one kills the
other one in front of a crowd. Two birds that are naturally aggressive to
each other, having razor-sharp metal blades attached to them, it's a
gruesome sight."

Police allege Danilo Patawaran, 52, and Deanna Patawaran, 46, organized the
cockfights, and the charges against them include causing unnecessary
suffering, keeping a cockpit and keeping a betting house.

They were released from custody and are scheduled to appear in a Newmarket,
Ont., court on March 18.

The remaining 68 people were charged with causing unnecessary suffering and
being found in a common betting house. Many of those charged had brought
their own roosters to the cockfight.

With files from the Canadian Press

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/toronto/story/2009/02/18/cockfighting.html