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At least 5 local farms breed roosters to fight
SPCA says it knows of four breeders in Surrey and one in Burnaby

Matthew Ramsey
The Province

January 28, 2005

At least five farms in the Lower Mainland are breeding and selling roosters destined to battle to the death in cockfighting matches around the world.

Shawn Eccles, SPCA chief animal protection officer, says he knows of four such breeding farms in Surrey and one in Burnaby, where "hundreds, if not thousands" of roosters are raised to be gladiators.

The roosters are shipped mostly to the Philippines and Mexico, where they can fetch a pretty price.

A website for "Roosterboys" at Ego Gamefowl in Cloverdale says the firm will send a "trio" of fowl -- one rooster and two breeding hens -- to the Philippines for $1,000 (plus $200 for shipping and customs).

Some 13 million roosters fight to the bitter end in organized cockfights in the Philippines annually.

The roosters peck, hack and slash at each other with sharpened natural leg spurs or with metal spikes attached to their legs. The animals typically survive two bouts. Spectators bet on the outcome.

Although it is illegal to cockfight in Canada, it is not illegal to breed the animals for fighting in countries where the blood sport is permitted, Eccles says. Cockfighting is legal in the Philippines, Mexico and a number of other South American counties. It is also allowed in some U.S. states, such as New Mexico.

As for cockfighting in B.C., the SPCA knows it's happening and has raided cockfights in the past, including two busts over four years at one Burnaby home.

The problem, says Eccles, is that the laws are so lax, the most a "cocker" can expect is a $2,000 fine or six months in jail.

In the case of the Burnaby raid in 1998, one man was fined $750 and given a year's probation. But charges against the other two were dropped when the judge said it was impossible to prove an actual cockfight was happening at the time of the raid. A total of 112 roosters were seized in the two raids.

The SPCA lacks the funds to go underground and investigate the fights, says Eccles.

The situation is frustrating, he adds, because the SPCA actually found "tiny little boxing gloves" at the scene, used in training the birds to fight. The gloves are strapped over the spur so the roosters can hit away with no permanent damage.