4 arrested in N.M. cockfight

CHAPARRAL, N.M., Dec. 24 (UPI) -- Four people were arrested and 100 roosters seized at an illegal cockfight pit in Chaparral, N.M.

New Mexico last summer banned brutal cockfighting, which pits roosters against each other in a fight that's often deadly, the El Paso (Texas) Times said. The roosters often wear long blades on their heels, and spectators bet on winners.

"It's significant. The message was: Cockfighting is going to be prosecuted in New Mexico," John Goodwin, manager of the animal cruelty and fighting campaign for the Humane Society of the United States, told the Times.

Saturday's arrests were the second cockfight raid this month around El Paso. Five men were arrested and 700 roosters seized in an early December raid in Anthony, N.M. The aggressive roosters were likely euthanized, the Times said.

New Mexico's Fifth Judicial District Court last week ruled to uphold the state's ban.

"The people of New Mexico have decided that cockfighting has no place in our state, and no amount of legal wrangling will change that," Heather Greenhood, legislative director of Animal Protection of New Mexico, said in a news release.