Florida does more about trash than West Virginia, Ohio, & Texas
HOMESTEAD, Florida––Stopped by Miami-Dade police at 4:30 a.m. on April 2, 2024 for an alleged headlight violation, Guadalupe Gabriel Zavala, 27, of Homestead, Florida, was hit with two felony animal fighting charges and a misdemeanor animal cruelty charge.
Zavala was expected to be released later the same day on $5,500 bond, reported Chris Gothner for WPLG Local 10 news.
The animal fighting charges, Gothner explained, resulted from an investigation of “illegal dumping investigation on a lot deep in the rural Redland area of far southwestern Miami-Dade County.
(Beth Clifton collage based on Facebook photo)
Saw men carrying caged roosters
“According to an arrest report,” Gothner said, “on March 14, 2024, Miami-Dade police were at the property when they saw Guadalupe Gabriel Zavala and another man carrying caged roosters.
“Police executed a search warrant and said they discovered several caged roosters, along with ‘various paraphernalia such as syringes, vials containing medication that (are) consistent with the preparation process of fighting roosters for gaming purposes, along with several agitators used to excite the roosters to engage them in preparation to train and/or fight.”
Arrested earlier were Maykel Barroso Montero, 47, of Miami; Carlos Bienvenido Cruz, 75, of southwest Miami-Dade; Alejandro Montero Morales, 35, of southwest Miami-Dade
Epifanio Puentes Suarez, 71, of southwest Miami-Dade; and Omar Ucio Izquierdo, 67, of southwest Miami-Dade.
West Virginia
Frustratedly observing from the suburbs of Chicago, Illinois, was Showing Animals Respect & Kindness founder Steve Hindi, whose team had during the last week of March 2024 tipped off local authorities in three states to cockfighting derbies underway in their jurisdictions, but saw no evidence of police response.
“We broke up an active cockfight in West Virginia yesterday,” specifically near Fairview in Marion County, Hindi told ANIMALS 24-7 two days earlier, “but have a nasty feeling that the state police did not do anything in this case, because they won’t talk to us.”
Moments after ANIMALS 24-7 posted the initial version of this article, Hindi called to relay that West Virginia state police had just informed him that they had responded, had found forty to fifty people at the scene, and had made arrests, but shared no further details.
While Hindi praised the West Virginia state police response, he confirmed that non-response or evasive responses were typical of Showing Animals Respect & Kindness experience over the years in documenting and reporting illegal cockfights from California to North Carolina, often with drone video, only to see nothing result most often from the effort, despite some occasional big busts by federal authorities.
(See “Recognized” for trash pickup, Mississippi sheriff ignored cockfighters, Animal fighters go down in Mississippi, South Carolina, Florida, & Ohio, and Hitting cockfights in four states, SHARK takes on boxing champ Roy Jones Jr.)
“Cockfighters may have scanners”
Emailed Hindi to Showing Animals Respect & Kindness supporters on March 24, 2024,
“Another cockfight took place today, this time in Coshocton, Ohio, and our team was on the scene. We had concrete evidence of the illegal activity and notified the Coshocton County Sheriff’s Department,” Hindi said.
“Despite this, the cockfighters were able to leave the premises before any action could have been taken.
“When we inquired about the lack of intervention, the Coshocton County Sheriff’s Department suggested that the cockfighters may have scanners,” Hindi continued.
“The decision to broadcast their response over the air, knowing the criminals may be using scanners, ultimately enabled the cockfighters to escape any justice,” Hindi charged.
“Whether the cockfighters received a tip-off from someone in law enforcement or simply listened in on their scanners, the Coshocton County Sheriff’s Department actions allowed them to evade the charges they rightfully deserved.”
Cockfighters tipped off in Texas, too?
Also on March 24, 2024, Hindi and others with Showing Animals Respect & Kindness tried unsuccessful to motivate Martin County, Texas sheriff Brad Ingram to respond to an illegal cockfight allegedly held at geo coordinates 32.1004, -101.8717.
“Your office was called,” Hindi emailed to Ingram on Monday morning, March 26, 2024, “and the pit location was given to your dispatcher. A number of additional calls were made in an attempt to initiate police action, but the cockfight was not busted.
“In fact, it appears the cockfighters were tipped off,” Hindi charged, “as after some time, they abruptly ended their illegal cockfight and took off well before their planned conclusion.
“Source told us department is compromised”
“When I called sometime after the initial call,” Hindi told Ingram, “the lady I spoke to assured me that you had been informed. That’s about the time the cockfighters exited. Now I would like to know what happened.
“Sheriff Ingram,” Hindi wrote, “our source told us that your department is compromised, that you are aware of this criminal operation, and that you allow it to continue. We do not simply accept such allegations, but it is most unfortunate that what happened Saturday is exactly what the source said would happen.”
Ingram, the Martin County sheriff since December 2014, ran for re-election on March 5, 2024 on a platform including the curious phrase that “Serving as Martin County sheriff can be challenging, especially with the task of making sure Midland and Big Spring,” two neighboring jurisdictions, “don’t overstep their boundaries.”
What does “don’t overstep their boundaries” mean?
Midland and Martin County sheriff’s deputies, before Ingram’s tenure, collaborated on January 31, 2009 to confiscate illegal drugs including cocaine, $88,000 in cash, and make 83 arrests, including several arrests of alleged illegal immigrants, at a cockfighting pit located on the Midland/Martin County line.
Impounded were 39 vehicles and 105 gamefowl.
Just over a year later, on March 6, 2010, “deputies made nine arrests when they busted a cockfight in progress and found 10 individuals and four children watching the fight,” reported Audrie Palmer for the Midland Reporter-Telegram.
Eight gamecocks and $2,000 in cash were impounded on that occasion, Palmer said.
ANIMALS 24-7 has found no record of local cockfighting busts since then.
Illinois sheriffs continue to ignore charreada cruelty
Frustrating Hindi on another front, meanwhile, was lack of police response to mayhem at a local charreada.
“We have a steer with a broken leg at 16989 E Ritchie Rd, Rochelle, IL 61068 during a Mexican-style rodeo event called ‘coleadero’ or ‘steer-tailing’ at Rancho La Esperanza,” Hindi alerted Showing Animals Respect & Kindness members.
“He should be segregated from all other steers and he should have been seen by a veterinarian! All the other steers are walking into him since they are all in crammed into the paddock together. This is unacceptable!” Hindi said, asking recipients to “Please call the Ogle County Sheriffs and demand they do their job and enforce state law!”
This came ten days after the board of supervisors in Boone County, Illinois, voted to ban horse-tripping at charreadas, which is already explicitly illegal statewide, but to continue to allow steer-tailing, which––as Showing Animals Respect & Kindness video has repeatedly shown––frequently results in severe injury to the steers, including often completely stripping the skin and flesh from their tails.
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Sharing with gratitude…and all of the frustratingly usual, including exasperation and disappointment at/in those maintaining the status quo in the Land That Time Forgot.
We are fortunate in having had Dr. Sylendra Babu as the previous Director General of Police in our State of Tamil Nadu (TN) . Dr Babu appointed a very senior Nodal Officer to handle animal cruelty cases statewide and we were responded to promptly every time a case requiring police action was needed. Considering that TN has a population of over 72 million, this was fantastic help that the police extended to us. It may be mentioned here that, unlike in the USA, the police department is an All-India cadre and not elected officials. In his previous posting as Director General of Fire and Rescue Services of TN, Dr Sylendra had ensured that all street dogs in the vicinity of every fire station in TN be fed from State funds!! The present Commissioner of Police in Chennai, Mr. Sandip Rai Rathore, is a true animal person, too. Amen.