MAYS LANDING, N.J. (1010 WINS) – Four dozen people were indicted on animal cruelty and other charges this week in connection with a cockfighting ring on the Jersey Shore, prosecutors said.
The 48 arrests stem from an investigation into an illegal cockfighting event planned for March 2024 in Galloway Township, the Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office said Thursday.
Police came across electronic invitations to the event, which was planned at an “arena” constructed specifically for the purpose of rooster fighting, prosecutors said.
Authorities were able to stop the event, and the subsequent investigation led to dozens of arrests.
The suspects—who range in age from 28 to 66 years old—face various charges, including animal cruelty, mutilation of animals, witnessing/paying admission to attend an event involving animal fighting, gambling on animal fighting, possession of controlled substances and resisting arrest by flight.
The organizer of the fight wasn’t included in the indictment, prosecutors said. Jose Madera, 33, pleaded guilty last year to charges that included multiple counts of animal cruelty, the Courier-Post reported.
Dozens of roosters were seized in the investigation, many of them with varying degrees of injury and mutilation, prosecutors said.
Four dogs were also seized from a residence and a shed on the property, where three of the dogs were kept in what prosecutors described as “deplorable conditions.”
One of the dogs required emergency, life-saving surgery, prosecutors said.