New South Wales police heard a rumour that organized crime was organising an illegal cockfight and by putting pressure on their informants learned the location and timing of the event. They recruited officers from the RSPCA to accompany them on a well planned raid on a remote property at Catherine Fields.
Unmarked police vans took the raiding party to locations where the property could be surrounded before a convoy of police vehicles, sirens screaming tore down the one approach road to achieve total surprise. The police helicopter hovered overhead to provide an " eye in the sky " and direct operations.
One of the sheds on the property had been converted into a cockfighting pit. Seventy-one fighting cockerals were discovered in wire cages, together with sharp metal spurs to be fitted to their feet.
A group of thirty-five men were arrested and police discovered $107,700 in cash money which would have been used to bet on the results of fights. This illegal operation has been shut down and more charges are expected to be laid as the investigation continues.
Several wounded birds were euthanised by the RSPCA and it is likely the rest will be destroyed. They are naturaly aggressive and this cruel sport is banned because these fights inevitably lead to the loser dying in the fighting pit. The fights are bloody affairs and even the winners are usually only capable of a few appearances before their wounds become too severe to continue.
Cockfighting is traditionally an activity associated with South America and parts of Europe. Its appearance here is a new twist in criminaL activity and the fact that it attracted an audience is troubling. The authoritiwes are wondering what other such illegal sporting activities might be in the planning stage.
In the past, there have been moves to bring bull fighting here because it is immensely popular in Spain and Mexico. The few events that were staged were not considered seriously because the bull survived unharmed and they eventuated as a comedy rather than a serious contest.
A Matador encourages a bull to charge by waving a red cape in front of it and the skill is in folding that cape and avoiding the bulls horns as the charge arrives. Unfortunately the bull is enraged by having implements dug into its flesh to cause it pain and the fight comes to an end with the killing of the bull. Bull fighting is unlikely to get approval as a spectacle in Australia.
It is evident that organized crime is showing interest in cockfighting because of the gambling angle. The fact that word of mouth attracted a body of men to a shed where a contest was planned probably means this will be repeated. Fortunately, that same word of mouth disgusted people opposed to cruel blood sports and the information was leaked to the police.
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