San Jose, Costa Rica – Authorities found more than 150 roosters and 243 people including 20 minors. In a swift action taken on the evening of May 21st la Fuerza Pública of San Jose dismantled a ring dedicated to clandestine cockfighting in Calle Fallas de Desamparados.
Just after 2 pm, an interagency group headed by the security forces stormed the “Gallera” where they found an estimated 243 people including at least 20 minors who watched the fight.
The Director of la Fuerza Pública of San Jose, Commissioner Raul Rivera said that the site is contained at least 150 fighting cocks located in different rooms, some of them dead or in critical condition.
In addition la Fuerza seized three firearms and 287 spurs. “Among the 243 detained was a man wanted for murder and 56 others with criminal records,” added Commissioner Rivera.
Representatives of the Ministry of Health charged that the site offered food and liquor sales in unsanitary conditions to attendees who paid between one and two thousand colones to watch the fights.
The Regional Director of SENASA, Allan Salazar said that this type of entertainment should not only be denounced as cruelty to animals but also because these cocks transmit a variety of diseases. The unsanitary conditions that accompany these kinds of shows increase the risk of contagion between families, parents and children.
The San Jose Fuerza Pública has had success with this type of operation in 2011 and has previously dismantled three “cockpits” which were located in: Aserrí, Pavas and Coronado.
