June 17, 2005
They allegedly showed up for a Sunday cockfight near Fiddletown, California, but instead of participating in bloodsports and gambling, 28 people were arrested by Amador County Sheriff's deputies, who caught some of them climbing down from trees where they had attempted to hide. The May 15 bust followed a year-long investigation into illegal cockfighting activities at the California Game Farm, a 10-acre property located near in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Among those arrested was the property's owner, Richard Warren Bohn.
"In addition to finding hundreds of razor-sharp slashers [knife-like implements designed to be attached to the birds], officers discovered three bloodstained cockfighting arenas at the scene, along with firearms, drugs, and thousands of dollars in cash," said HSUS West Coast Regional Director Eric Sakach, who was present to assist deputies during the raid. "One suspect reportedly dropped $4,000 as he attempted to flee," he said.
All the individuals arrested were charged with attending an animal fight. Some were also charged with possession of fighting cocks and cockfighting implements. About 30 others fled into the surrounding area.
The HSUS's West Coast Regional Office was instrumental in the formation of an ad hoc task force to help investigate Bohn's alleged cockfighting operation and assist with the handling and documentation of animals during the raid. Authorities seized and removed 58 roosters, including birds that had been brought to the location, and a representative sampling of the more than 350 gamecocks found on Bohn's property. All of the remaining gamecocks were tagged, photographed and impounded on the property by HSUS staff and personnel from Amador County Animal Control, with assistance from police and animal control officers from Stanislaus, El Dorado, Placer, Merced, Yolo, Tehama and Sacramento Counties, as well as the cities of Galt, Sacramento, and Lathrop. The HSUS also provided an emergency grant to Amador County's small, cash-strapped animal control facility to help defray the costs of sheltering and caring for the seized roosters pending trial.
Formal charges have since been filed against Richard Warren Bohn by the Amador County District Attorney's Office, listing Gina May Bohn and Robert Edward Wendell as co-defendants. They each face one felony charge of alleged conspiracy to engage in cockfighting. According to Amador County District Attorney Todd Riebe, the conspiracy charge was based on the alleged commission of five overt acts related to cockfighting: communicating to others that there would be a cockfight on the property; collecting admission fees; admitting other fighting birds to the property; weighing and tagging birds with numbered bands; and drafting a fighting schedule board displaying the weight and band numbers of the birds.
The trio was arraigned June 15 in Amador Superior Court.
"WCRO will continue to work with the Amador County Sheriff's Department and District Attorney's Office to ensure that Bohn is prosecuted to the full extent of the law," noted Sakach.
Other charges filed against the Bohns and Robert Wendell include misdemeanor possession or training of fighting animals, possession of cockfighting implements and possession of a bird or animal for fighting. Richard and Gina Bohn are further charged with felony counts of maintaining a place for wagering and three counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor.
Sakach believes the felony charges are a good sign. California, he explained, "has become a bit of a refuge for cockfighting," because the crime is only a misdemeanor in the state. As a result, "cockfighters often locate in California rather than in neighboring states, all of which have made cockfighting a felony."
But a new bill, S.B. 156, by state Senator Nell Soto, seeks to remedy this situation. If passed, the legislation will allow felony charges to be brought for specified second or subsequent offenses related to cockfighting. S.B. 156 passed the Senate on May 31 by a vote of 31-3, and is now under consideration in the Assembly.
