Police raid cockfighting ring in west Provo, arrest 17 people
Daily Herald file photo
A Provo police car is parked on Center Street on Saturday, June 25, 2022.Police raided a cockfighting ring in west Provo on Saturday night, arresting 17 people while dozens more reportedly fled and finding more than 50 dead roosters.
A Provo police news release said a search of a farm property at 1215 W. and 600 South revealed what appeared to be a large fighting ring that included 363 live roosters onsite and 56 dead roosters in garbage bins and bags.
Detained individuals were arrested and booked into the Utah County Jail on charges of Game Fowl Fighting, a Class B misdemeanor. Seven arrestees also face charges of Aggravated Cruelty to an Animal — Intention/Knowing, a Class A misdemeanor, police said.
According to an affidavit of probable cause, Provo police were conducting a welfare check when they were alerted to possible organized cockfighting at the property that had a history of animal fighting in 2019.
A warrant was obtained to fly a drone over the property, which showed several people going in and out of a shed and people loading cages in and out of vehicles, the affidavit said.
An officer said he posted outside the property, where he said he could see flashing lights from the shed and hear chickens crowing, and another warrant was obtained to enter the property.
Officers cleared the property, where they found seven people. They also captured six at a nearby park, including a juvenile, and stopped five more at a traffic stop, according to the affidavit. The juvenile was released to their parents.
People found on the property told police 50-100 people had fled, according to the affidavit.
Police said during a sweep of the building they found dead chickens in a large room with benches, score cards and a winning board with a list of individuals on it.
“An adjacent room had several bottles of liquid with needles in them that are used to make the roosters more aggressive. That room also contained several trophies that were labeled with various chicken related achievements,” the affidavit said.
In the stopped vehicle, police said they found razor claws, additional aggression inducing drugs and two roosters in a box.
“These objects and substances along with the dead roosters in the shed show that they did not die a quick painless death but a slow and painful one,” the affidavit said.
Provo police said the investigation remains active.
