KWES NewsWest 9 / Midland, Odessa, Big Spring, TX: newswest9.com | Hearing Set after Game Rooster Seizure in Odessa

Hearing Set after Game Rooster Seizure in Odessa

By Camaron Abundes   
NewsWest 9

WEST ODESSA- Dozens of neglected fighting roosters seized from a West Odessa home, are improving according to officials with Animal Control.

"The public would be horrified, you all would be horrified. If it wasn't for the feathers these are just walking skeletons," Cheryl Brom, manager of Odessa Animal Control, said.

Officers say they found twenty-five starved birds, left without food and water. Twenty birds died before they showed up.
  
"These birds weren't bred for farming, they weren't bred for egg laying, the purpose of the breed is for cockfighting," Brom said.

Brom says during the seizure, officers found evidence that shows the birds were used in the illegal sport.

"We found a lot of the vitamins, steroids, stuff to pump them up, along with the syringes," she said.

Brom says they also had reports cockfighting was going on, on the property. Neighbors tell NewsWest 9 the home was a known for cock fights, but no one had been at the home in weeks.

"I don't remember seeing anybody there for a long time," one neighbor said.

According to animal control officers, the man who owned the birds may have moved back to Mexico when he lost his job here in the United States. A neighbor reported the neglect.

"It's hard to fathom that people would abandon birds left in cages," Brom said.

A hearing is set for December 29th. If a judge decides Animal Control had enough evidence to seize the birds, the birds will stay in it's care. Brom says after the hearing they will work with law enforcement to obtain a warrant for the owners arrest. Brom says he will likely face 13 counts of animal cruelty, a Class A misdemeanor, punishable by up to a year in jail and up to a $4000 dollar fine.

If you would like to report animal cruelty, call Animal Control at 368-3526.