Hundreds Of Birds Confiscated In Western Wisconsin Cockfighting Bust

Animal rescue officials say they’ll likely have to find new homes for hundreds of chickens and roosters confiscated from a large-scale cockfighting ring in Polk and St. Croix counties.

More than 1,200 roosters and hens are being treated after a raid on four properties in western Wisconsin uncovered the largest cockfighting ring the region has ever seen.

Dana Barre of Heartland Farm Sanctuary was on the scene at one of the properties. She said chickens were in makeshift, feces-filled cages with little food or water, and that some roosters were injured from fighting. Barre said rescuers are triaging hundreds of birds.

“Now we’re trying to come up with a good system for figuring out who we can possibly re-home and there’s a lot of activity going on here,” Barre said, describing the scene.

Wisconsin doesn’t keep statistics on cockfighting, but the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals says it recently found another large ring in New York.