"Police in Conn. chase outbreak of cockfighting" by Keith O'Brien, Globe Staff | March 16, 2009
WATERBURY, Conn. - From a garage near an abandoned factory in the south end of town, the sound was unmistakable: roosters - lots of them - squawking in the night.
It's an odd noise to hear in the middle of this city, the former brass capital of the world. But police in Waterbury, about 30 miles southwest of Hartford, knew exactly what they were dealing with recently when they gathered outside the squawking garage.
It was another cockfight.... Cockfight raids are relatively rare, especially in New England. According to unofficial figures compiled by the Humane Society of the United States, there were about 100 busts for cockfighting nationwide last year, none in Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, or Maine. But....
So my thought here is THEN WHY is this story on the FRONT PAGE of NEW ENGLAND'S BIGGEST PAPER? They couldn't put SOMETHING ELSE on the FRONT PAGE?
Since 1970, Waterbury's Hispanic population has grown nearly eightfold, according to US Census data, from around 3,900 to nearly 30,000.
Oh, the ILLEGALS brought the TRADITION, did they?
Hispanics now account for more than one-fourth of the city's population. The vast majority of them hail from Puerto Rico, where cockfighting is legal.
Okay, I stand corrected -- and HOW BARBARIC!!!!!
That more than anything might explain what's happening, said Alderman Albert Negron, whose father moved from Puerto Rico to Connecticut in the 1960s. Most of the people arrested in the raids have been Hispanic. "We have Dominicans, Puerto Ricans, Mexicans, and in all their countries of origin, that's a national pastime," Negron said.
Oh, so it COULD BE ILLEGALS!! Thanks for fuzzying that up for me, MSM. (Pfft!)
Cockfighting, which is illegal in all 50 states, is a bloody spectacle in which roosters are fitted with steel or hard-plastic spurs, hyped up on steroids, and dropped into makeshift rings to fight, usually to the death, while crowds whoop, holler, drink beer, and bet.
Sometimes I am truly ashamed at the indifferent cruelty shown by my fellow humans.
In Connecticut, as in most states, participating in or even watching cockfighting is a felony punishable by up to five years in prison. Usually when a community cracks down, the practice goes back underground or moves to the next town, said John Goodwin, manager of animal fighting issues for the Humane Society of the United States. But that hasn't happened in Waterbury....
***************About two weeks ago, Waterbury police raided the garage, where they say there was a $10 entrance fee, a referee with a timer overseeing the fights, and food and beer on hand. The take this time: 23 arrests, 51 roosters, and $16,000. The people arrested at Waterbury cockfights hailed from 26 communities in four states, including Massachusetts.
"They could hear roosters crowing," said Lieutenant Christopher Corbett, supervisor of the Waterbury police detective bureau. "They could hear people cheering. And when they went inside, there were these 23 men in there with - for lack of a better term - a miniature boxing ring."
.... Many locals found little to be excited about.... At the city pound, the roosters seized at the recent fight are awaiting a fate of their own. Stacked in cages and plastic kennels amid one cat and 30 barking dogs, they crow and peck at their temporary handlers.
"They're very vicious," said pound employee George Crownshaw. "As soon as I open the door, it's a fight."
People are TRAINING THEM to do this, folks! Otherwise, he'd just be out in the yard being loud in the morning and getting his rocks off with the hens!
Not for long. Soon, police say, the surviving 47 birds will have to be euthanized, because of their potential to spread disease and their inability to live in peace with other animals.
Oh, so NOW they are to be KILLED, huh? Another INNOCENT LIFE FORM to become the VICTIM of MAN, huh?
You know, since they CAN'T LIVE in PEACE with OTHERS, maybe we should EUTHANIZE ISRAEL, too?!!!!!!!
It's a sad ending to a sad story in Waterbury, but not necessarily for everyone in the city. José Duran, a 34-year-old native of the Dominican Republic, said he doesn't understand what all the fuss is about. He likes cockfights, he said, and doesn't mind watching them every now and again.
Then MAYBE YOU wouldn't mind fitting on some spurs and having at it, shit-bag?!!!!
"I don't feel bad about it," he said. "It's just birds, man. That's all it is: birds."
Oh! Oh!! The DISRESPECT SHOWN towards ANOTHER LIFE FORM and SENTIENT BEING!! Oh, the ASSAULT on my SENSES!!!!!!!!
Also see: Fly Away Little Birdie, Fly, Fly, Fly
Birds Gotta Fly....
Rockin' Robin
Boston Globe Bird S***
