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SUMMIT COUNTY, Colo. (KMGH) — Authorities in Summit County have issued warrants for the arrest of four men wanted on animal fighting charges after 33 cockfighting roosters were seized during a May traffic stop on Interstate 70, the Fifth Judicial District announced in a news release Sunday.
The four suspects — Cody Smith, 28; Kenneth Dotson 29; Austin Clanton, 26; and Jose Saltos, Jr, 42 — were charged June 26 with animal fighting and cruelty to animals following an investigation which began with the May 15 State Patrol stop on I-70 near Silverthorne in Summit County.
The four were in a truck when a patrolman pulled them over for an unreadable temporary tag. During the stop, CSP officers saw 33 roosters being kept in cramped homemade wooden boxes without water or food, according to the release.
The birds were taken into the care of the Summit County Sheriff’s Office where they were examined and determined to be raised for cockfighting, the statement read. Authorities said the animals were later euthanized due to the potential of disease risk.
The release states that a conviction of animal fighting is punishable by up to three years in prison.
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