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Tampa Police Bust 'Elaborate Chicken-Fighting Ring'

News Channel 8 photo by Paul Lamison

Tampa police and Hillsborough County Animal Services took more than 60 birds, such as this one, from a property suspected to be used for chicken fighting.

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By VALERIE KALFRIN | The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 19, 2008

Updated: 02/19/2008 04:56 pm

TAMPA - The rooster had red plumage but no comb on its head or wattle below its beak.

The spurs on its feet also were missing, leaving room for razor-sharp knives to be held in place by leather straps.

"It's been prepped for fighting and would probably suffer a cruel and inhumane death," said Pam Perry of Hillsborough County Animal Services, who was carrying the altered bird inside a metal cage today.

The rooster was recovered after animal services investigators, acting on a tip, went to Michael Serrano's Used Auto Sales at 3908 E. Lake Ave. today.

They found an elaborate chicken-fighting ring, said animal services spokeswoman Marti Ryan.

They arrested Felipe Cordero, 31, of 1709 Waters Ave. E. Cordero was charged with one count of owning property for animal fighting or baiting, 15 counts of baiting, breeding, owning or possessing animals for fighting, and four counts of owning equipment for animal fighting, according to jail records.

He was being held today at Orient Road Jail with bail set at $40,000.

There may be more arrests, said Tampa police spokeswoman Andrea Davis. Investigators were interviewing people at the business this afternoon.

They discovered about 60 to 70 birds, a screened ring roughly 24 feet in diameter, steroids and medications for the birds, and paraphernalia such as a crude broom to agitate the birds and a blue drawstring bag for carrying the birds to the ring, Ryan and Perry said.

An image of a rooster and words in Spanish about "los galleros," or "cockfighters," were printed on the bag. Translated, the words read:

We are like a fine rooster. A fine rooster will never leave the fence, and it will never leave a fight. They fight to the end. We are not those who will never surrender. We are different.

"Culturally speaking, some folks take a lot of pride in this kind of operation. But it's illegal in this state," Ryan said.

Serrano, 39, was not on the property at the time of the search. Public records show he has been held without bail at Orient Road Jail since Friday, charged with felony cocaine trafficking.

Public records show Serrano was charged in 2004 with a felony charge of attending an animal fight and a misdemeanor charge of betting on an animal fight. Court records show the charges were reduced to misdemeanor gambling and he was fined $3,945.

Lavena Hill, who identified herself as Serrano's sister-in-law, said there was no chicken-fighting on the property.

Hill said the bird Perry had shown off in the cage was a hen, not a rooster, so it wasn't meant to have the comb and wattle.

"I eat chicken eggs from back there. Why can't we have chickens and roosters?" she said.

Any injuries the birds had, Hill said, were because "chickens and roosters tear each other up."

Ryan said the roosters confiscated likely would be euthanized. Investigators would try to place the hens on a farm.

Centro producer Vanessa Vazquez contributed to this report. Reporter Valerie Kalfrin can be reached at (813) 259-7800 or vkalfrin@tampatrib.com.

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