FELTON, Del. - A cockfighting derby in Felton on May 6 gathered a crowd of around 70 people, according to animal rights organization Showing Animals Respect and Kindness. According to the nonprofit, no arrests have been made as of May 17.
Cockfighting involves fixing sharp objects like blades and knives to roosters' legs, sometimes drugging them to make them more aggressive, and putting them in a pit where they fight each other and cannot escape.
A man can be seen removing a rooster from a brown box and carrying it to a car. Courtesy Showing Animals Respect and Kindness.
Showing Animals Respect and Kindness, which is based in Illinois and run by a former hunting fan, said it received a tip about the long-planned event and sent a team with a drone to Felton to record evidence of the fight on video. After calling for law enforcement to break up the fighting, the video obtained by WRDE shows one officer from Delaware Animal Services walking to the building in which the fighting was taking place. Then, a crowd began to exit the building on the opposite end with some individuals running, and a row of cars quickly left the property.
Cars could be seen quickly leaving the fight after an official arrived to break it up. Courtesy Showing Animals Respect and Kindness.
Showing Animals Respect and Kindness president Steve Hindi told WRDE on the phone on May 18 that he is disappointed in law enforcement reaction.
"Cockfighters are organized and conducting illegal activities at a number of locations in the state," said Hindi in a statement. "We are disappointed that when we alerted Troop 3 of the Delaware State Police to a fight in progress, the agency did not respond with a group of properly armed police officers to interdict a fighting setup where 70 people had gathered for the spectacle."
WRDE reached out to Delaware State Police for comment. A representative said that the primary agency overseeing the investigation is Delaware Animal Services. According to the representative, people within Delaware Animal Services have arresting powers. He also said that, while troopers were going to assist at the fight, they were instead called to a shooting in the area and never arrived.
Hindi told WRDE that Delaware Animal Services executed a search warrant at the cockfighting property on May 9. He is hopeful that the video evidence will assist with making arrests and charging those involved. The agency has not been reached at the time of writing.
"We documented mutilated birds pulled from the fighting pits and then bludgeoned or hit with the blade of a hatchet outside of the barn," noted Hindi. "These cockfighters were so callous and deadened to the suffering of animals that they didn't even finish the job, and some of the birds languished or thrashed in the pile of dead birds they dumped in a front-end loader."
A losing rooster was discarded in front of a piece of heavy machinery that later dumped the dead and injured birds elsewhere. Courtesy Showing Animals Respect and Kindness.
Aside from concerns for the well-being of animals, cockfighting can pose a public health risk due to the birds being transported to multiple illegal fight locations, including across state lines. Avian flu and other diseases can be passed from the birds to humans and threaten the human food supply.
"The risk of disease transmission is especially glaring at the property in question as numerous commercial poultry operations are visible in the drone documentation," said a statement from Hindi.
This example of animal fighting follows the breakup of a dogfighting event in Seaford in January. Six men were arrested in that incident.