Hundreds of Birds Seized in Cockfighting Investigation
By DIANA PEREZ
Updated 11:33 PM EST, Fri, Jul 10, 2009
A Litchfield Hills couple could face serious charges after animal control came in and took cage after cage from a chicken coop in Harwinton.
"It’s horrible; it’s despicable that someone can do that to poor animals,” says Michael Dumond of Harwinton.
Police recovered the birds from behind 381 Litchfield Road. That’s where they say they were kept, bred and possibly prepped for fighting.
We’re told police got a call from someone in the home who hung up. Officers came by the house anyway and heard the birds out back. Thursday night they returned with a search warrant, which uncovered a large operation. Investigators seized more than 300 roosters, hens and chicks.
“It's something that we occasionally get it’s not unusual but the size is out of the ordinary,” says Wayne Kasacek or the Connecticut Department of Agriculture.
They are not sure whether or not the birds actually fought here on the property but they say they did not find any fighting rings. Instead they found plenty of evidence that this was house of horrors for the birds.
“They’re shaved a certain way. They have all the paraphernalia gear spurs and glue and stuff like that,” explains Kasacek.
Harwinton firefighters, State and local animal control and State Police worked for hours to remove all of the birds from the home. Now the husband and wife who live there are looking at some serious criminal charges including animal cruelty.Neighbors meanwhile say cockfighting don’t usually pop up in towns like Harwinton.
“I would’ve never thought that in a small town like this that something like would be happening,” says Dumond.
The Department of Agriculture says some of the birds will have to be euthanized because they're so aggressive, the rest have been taken to an undisclosed location.
First Published: Jul 10, 2009 9:49 PM EST
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