In a mesh sack that once contained 50 pounds of Solar brand sweet Spanish onions, Bobby Turner found a bloodied, dead rooster along the road ditch near his home.

It was the second time in two weeks he had seen the sight while driving along Lawngate Road in western Limestone County.

“People drop off cats and dogs out here all the time, but they are alive,” said the 62-year-old retired electrician. “I am an animal lover, myself. This bothers me.”

With gloved hands, Turner pulls the rooster he found Monday from the sack – its delicate, bloodstained head rests limply against its striking iridescent green-and-orange plumage.

Turner points out that the cock’s spurs – the natural protrusions on the bird’s feet – have been filed to a point.

“This is done for no other reason than to fight,” Turner said, explaining that he learned about cockfighting by watching a television program about the illegal sport. “They file the spurs down so they can fit them with razor-sharp metal spurs. When they fight, they tear at the head of the other.”

History

Cockfighting is a centuries-old blood sport that pits roosters bred for aggressiveness in a pit for the purposes of gambling and entertainment.

Proponents do not consider the sport animal cruelty, no more than letting a cat or dog avail its natural instinct to hunt, according to the Web site Gamefowl Facts. They say the roosters are an aggressive breed and will fight naturally if allowed. Cockfighters, the group states, take good care of their birds.

Opponents, such as the Humane Society of the United States, say the gamecocks suffer and often die in the pits.

“The birds cannot escape from the fight, regardless of how exhausted or injured they become,” according to the Society’s Web site. “Common injuries include punctured lungs, broken bones and pierced eyes. Severe injuries occur because the birds’ legs are usually fitted with razor-sharp steel blades or with gaffs, which resemble three-inch-long, curved ice picks. These artificial spurs are designed to puncture and mutilate.”

A fight can last anywhere from several minutes to more than half an hour and usually results in the death of one bird and sometimes both.

The Humane Society contends that the “presence of young children at cockfights is an especially disturbing element” and that “exposure to such brutality can promote insensitivity toward animal suffering and enthusiasm for violence. “

The Society also claims, “law-enforcement officials have documented a strong connection between cockfighting and the distribution of illegal drugs and that drug-enforcement agents often learn about animal fighting operations as a result of narcotics investigations.”