Animal welfare groups are urging North Carolina prosecutors to file felony cruelty charges after hundreds of fighting roosters were reportedly abandoned without food or water in Wilkes County. The birds were left at Los Panchos Gamecock Farm, a sprawling property that has been under investigation by Animal Wellness Action and a group called Showing Animals Respect and Kindness.

Investigation and Abandonment

Local authorities took action after receiving new evidence and tips regarding the location. Advocates claim the farm’s owner, Francisco Valadez, abandoned the animals entirely. Wayne Pacelle, president of Animal Wellness Action, said leaving the birds to starve creates a massive problem for both the animals and the community.

“Birds like these all over North Carolina are bred into a system of violence and suffering, and now they appear to have been discarded and abandoned altogether,” Pacelle stated. “Cockfighters routinely treat animals as disposable commodities, and this case demonstrates the profound cruelty embedded in the culture of organized animal fighting.”

Push for Charges and Legislation

The push for charges comes shortly after a cockfighting bust in Granville County in July 2024. During that investigation, local law enforcement released photos of the crime scene that included a trailer displaying the Los Panchos Gamecock Farm logo. Advocates are now urging law enforcement to look beyond standard animal fighting offenses and file hundreds of individual animal cruelty charges based on the severe neglect of the abandoned flock.

Animal Wellness Action and the Center for a Humane Economy are also pressing Congress to pass the FIGHT Act, a bipartisan bill that aims to ban live and online gambling on animal fights, stop the shipment of fighting birds through the mail, and allow citizens to file lawsuits to break up fighting rings.

Original reporting: Tampa Free Press — read the source article.