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Read Full BioPolice in Bradford, in the English county of West Yorkshire, have rescued an unspecified number of cockerels and arrested two men as part of a cockfighting probe.
The Telegraph and Argus reported that West Yorkshire Police raided eight properties (six in Bradford, and one apiece in Burton-upon-Trent, Staffordshire, and Warrington, Cheshire) in a coordinated nationwide operation on June 4.
Bradford Cockfighting Crackdown
One of the arrestees was arrested on suspicion of “causing an animal fight to take place and taking part in an animal fight.”
Police arrested the other man on suspicion of attending an animal fight.
Officers carried out the raid in conjunction with the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA), the UK’s largest animal welfare charity.
An RSPCA spokesperson said it had taken the cockerels into care, adding that the police investigation was “ongoing.”
Cockfighting was outlawed in the UK in the 1800s. However, in 2017, the RSPCA reported that the bloodsport was “at a five-year high in the UK and growing, particularly in British-born Pakistani communities.”
Bradford Farmer Found Breeding Fighting Birds in 2023
Bradford appears to have become the unofficial epicenter of Britain’s underground cockfighting movement.
In 2023, the BBC reported that a 39-year-old farmer from Bradford “staged cockfights” and was sentenced to nine months in prison, suspended for 18 months, and banned from keeping chickens and roosters on his land.
The RSPCA told Bradford Crown Court that it had found 22 hens and cockerels on the farmer’s land “with fighting injuries, feather loss, and without food or water.”
West Yorkshire Police raided the farm, where they found birds in makeshift pens. Many of the animals had feathers missing from their chests, as well as damaged legs.
Officers found a dead cockerel at the farm. Three other birds were euthanised on expert advice from a veterinarian.
Bloodsport’s Global Popularity Remains High
There was also evidence of malnourishment at the farm, which the RSPCA suggested was common in cockfighting rings.
Officers found videos on the farmer’s phone that indicated he was indeed training the birds to fight.
A vet told the court that 14 of the birds were in a state of neglect. The expert confirmed that some of the birds had undergone unnecessary suffering.
Cockfighting and betting on animal fights remain extremely popular in many parts of the world. Earlier this month, police in India arrested five people in a raid on a suspected cockfighting ring.
Malaysian police are also cracking down on cockfighting tournaments. Officers in the state of Sabah recently arrested three elderly men at a makeshift arena.
