Four days ago, the past may 31, the second indication of illegal cockfighting was detected in Catalonia just two months apart. It was discovered by a Trànsit patrol of the Mossos d’Esquadra that stopped in Girona a van that was circulating on the AP-7. When searching its load, the agents saw that it was transporting more than fifty roosters that, supposedly, were going to be forced to fight.
The previous indication of the existence of this cruel practice with animals in Catalonia was detected before Holy Week. officers of the police station Sabadell they surprised in flagrante fifty people who participated in a cockfight with bets. The policemen had suspected for a long time that these types of meetings were organized in an area of orchards and barracks to store tools located near the Taulí Park hospital. But so far they had not been able to surprise them. And that day the same thing almost happened again: as soon as the patrols approached the place, a crowd began to flee, running across the field. They just stayed by the pit where their owners were forcing the roosters to fight.
Despite the fact that the police sources consulted by EL PERIÓDICO stress that there is no evidence that it is a widespread practice, the truth is that in just two months the autonomous body has found at least two pieces of evidence that this practice, to a greater or lesser extent, measure, occurs in Catalonia.
forbidden fights
The cockfighting with bets are a prohibited practice in the State. However, in two communities –Andalusia Y Canary Islands– if fights are allowed under some conditions. In Andalusia, for example, fights can be held between cock breeders for the purpose of selecting males for breeding and, in theory, they should not die. In no case, however, are gambling allowed – as is suspected to have been happening with the pit found in the Sabadell orchards – nor are confrontations to the death or the mutilation of animals.
As reported by the Mossos, the roosters transported in the Girona van had suffered mutilations on their crests, had lost feathers and had large spurs. Sometimes, to prevent the roosters from killing each other or for the fight to end immediately, breeders can file down the spurs, says a Catalan police officer. On other occasions, however, the organizers of the combats sharpen spurs or even knot metal blades to the leg of the animal to ensure the lethality of the fight.
During the search of Sabadell, the Mossos intervened five pages of a regulation that had the seal of the FADGCE (Andalusian Federation of Defenders of the Spanish Fighting Rooster). The documents detail the rules that must be met in order to properly hold fights that allow the best males to be selected. There it is stated that the birds must go “shaving” of “combs” and “beards” and also “peeling of thighs”. What is striking is that the death of one of the two opponents during the fight is seen as one of the possible outcomes. It draws attention because, in principle, the fights to select males cannot be to the death.
This newspaper has tried to obtain the version of the aforementioned rooster breeders federation. It has not been possible to contact any manager. On its website, the organization details that it defends an ancient tradition, also rooted in Spain for centuries.
The agents who intervened in Sabadell had to leave the roosters in the hands of their owners, except for one that had been savagely wounded – he had lost an eye in the fight. That operation resulted in the opening of proceedings that have been transferred to the court, in case you consider that a cause can be instructed by crimes against animals, and also to the Government, in case it should be managed as administrative infractions. Along with the pit and the cages, there were also fractional bills –which would indicate that bets were accepted in the clashes–, scales, hourglasses, alcohol and stopwatches. Or they were directly celebrating for that purpose.
a detainee
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In the van from Girona that the Trànsit patrol stopped on May 31, three people were traveling who responded evasively to the agents who asked where they were going with the fifty roosters. And after a few minutes, the owner of the birds appeared, a clue that indicates that he would not reside far away. Nor did the owner of the animals want to clarify what he was going to do with them.
The Mossos arrested this man and left him with the condition of investigated to the other three. None of the ten people identified in Sabadell were arrested either. The owner of the roosters, who continues to hide the purpose for which he transported them in claustrophobic boxes, is the first that the regional police arrested in a long time for this illegal activity in Catalonia.