Cockfights Continue to Attract Thousands : Gambling: The illegal blood sport remains a popular attraction for wagerers of all stripes. It goes on largely unimpeded in California’s farmlands and foothills.

Sharpened metal spurs adorn the roosters, primed since birth for battle. Within minutes, they are dead or gouged into bloody “living sieves” in secret cockfighting arenas in California’s farmlands and foothills.

Battling prized gamecocks in weekend derbies is, for some, simply a sport. Others call it a gruesome haven for bloodthirsty crooks and gamblers. But by all accounts, thousands of spectators--from farm workers to city dwellers--are flocking to bet on the illegal blood sport.

Despite occasional raids, cockfighting goes on largely unimpeded.

“We put the pressure on a few years back, but I think we’ve just driven them deeper,” said Fresno County Sheriff’s Detective Neil Dadian. “It’s a whole lot more underground. They’re sharper and getting more sophisticated.”

Authorities in Sutter County, northeast of Sacramento, accidentally learned about a cockfight in January, leading to their first major raid since 1984. They arrested more than 200 people and found 75 dead roosters.

“The trouble is they jump around a lot and most go undetected,” said Assistant Sheriff Jim Denney. “Maybe one week they’ll be here, the next week in Fresno, and then they’ll jump to Stockton.

“We know they go on and they’ll keep going on as long as there’s money involved.”

Although cockfighting is a misdemeanor, Humane Society investigator Eric Sakach says people who raise gamecocks for battle are modern-day barbarians.

“As far as why so many people gravitate toward this blood sport, that’s a frightening question,” Sakach said. “It suggests we’re not all that far removed from the days of the (Roman) Coliseum.”

But supporters say cockfight enthusiasts are not barbaric.

“There’s doctors, lawyers, all kinds of people involved in this sport,’ said a Fresno-area feed shop owner who sells the cockfighting magazine “Grit and Steel” and game fowl supplies.

“I even know kids involved in it and--you know what--it keeps them away from drugs,” said the businessman, who declined to give his name.

In cockfights, two roosters adorned with tiny gaffs on their natural spurs peck and kick at each other until one drops dead. The winner is often turned into a bloody “living sieve,” Sakach said.

The sport is not just cruel to animals, Sakach claims, but also attracts an assortment of major-league criminals involved in drugs and high-stakes gambling.

“It’s a violent crowd, and there’s an incredible number of homicides,” he contended. “You’re talking about an extremely organized type of crime. And the betting can be absolutely insane.”

Despite the Humane Society’s concern, crowded jails and tight county budgets have made the war on illegal cockfighting a low priority, said San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Deputy Peter Burnett.

“We’ve lost our incentive to really go out and police,” Burnett said. “Prosecution is the issue. You can write citations, but some district attorneys won’t even prosecute.”

It took an anonymous phone tip for Marin County authorities to seize 60 chickens and arrest six people at a dairy recently. Kern County deputies in Lamont responded to two cockfights, but only after citizens complained.

Other officers feel that enforcing the law against cockfighting is frivolous in the wake of growing rates of violent crimes against people.

Roger Scarbrough, a member of the United Game Breeders Assn., compared the sport to hunting or horse racing. It is legal in Arizona, Kentucky, Louisiana, New Mexico and Oklahoma.

“I treat my birds just like pets. If I see one with a cold, then I give it a shot of penicillin,” the Fontana-based breeder said.

“I have the best feed money can buy. They get fresh water every day. They live a very elaborate life of two years, and the exceptional ones die of old age.”

Other supporters claim that the staged fights are a natural way to determine pecking order, not a cruel lust for blood.

“I don’t get a rush from seeing chickens get killed,” said Manuel Costa Jr. of Live Oak, president of the Assn. for the Preservation of Game Fowl.

Opponents “always try to hit us and make us look sinister. It’s ridiculous,” Costa added.

“It’s like breeding prized cattle or a race horse. For the true sportsman, it’s raising the fowl and seeing the animal perform like you thought.”

But Sakach sees no connection between cockfighting and legitimate sports.

“There’s nothing natural about it at all,” he said. “It’s an activity whose time has come and gone.”