A Summerdale man faces allegations of setting up a cockfighting ring outside
his home where dozens of people bet on battles between the birds, a
law-enforcement official said. Francisco Hurtado, 34, is charged with
cockfighting, conspiracy to promote gambling and cruelty to animals. All
three of the counts are misdemeanors. Baldwin County sheriff’s deputies
received an anonymous call Sunday morning about illegal gambling on
Woodhaven Dairy Road East, near Fish River, according to Sheriff’s Office
spokesman Lt. John Murphy. They arrived to find a large number of cars and
about 50 people crowded around an outdoor pit lined with plywood, he said. A
few people scattered into a wooded area nearby when deputies approached,
Murphy said. “Through the course of several interviews, it was determined
that they were gambling on the chicken fights,” Murphy said. The cockfights
may have been ongoing for some time, he added. “You could tell that it was
something that hadn’t just been put up,” Murphy said. “The pen had been
there, there were chairs out there, garbage, beer cans, a fairly decent
amount of people there for some time greater than just that morning.”
Deputies found at least 20 birds on the property, several of which were
“aggressive” birds, but did not have the means or authority to confiscate
them, according to the spokesman. “You can’t just turn them loose,” he said.
One rooster was dead, and two of the birds had been injured. Raising such
birds is legal and, Murphy added, “pretty common throughout the county and
throughout the region.” Hurtado posted a $5,000 bond and was released,
according to jail officials. No court date has been set. Conspiracy to
promote gambling is a Class A misdemeanor, and is punishable by up to a year
in jail, while cruelty to animals is a Class B misdemeanor punishable by up
to six months in jail. The penalty for cockfighting is a fine between $25
and $50.