A man, who owns a property where cockfighting was held last April, has pleaded No Contest to Felony Animal Cruelty and Allowing His Property To Be Used For Cockfighting. That after Monterey County Sheriff’s Deputies responded to complaints of lots of noise and traffic on the property on the 300 block of Harrison Road, north of Sala Road. Although many people fled the scene when deputies arrived, deputies found a cockfighting pit, 7 dead roosters, 4 severely injured roosters, and 112 live roosters. Deputies also found 61 blades attached to the rooster’s legs, as well as an un-registered gun….and methamphetamine. Esteban Ortiz is scheduled to be sentenced to 2 years of felony probation, spend 90 days in jail and pay more than 1500 dollars to the SPCA Of Monterey County. He will also need to agree to random checks of his property by the SPCA and complete an animal abuse counseling course.
Approximately 100 people are believed to have attended the cockfight, and several were caught and arrested for being spectators and for violating the Shelter-In-Place Order.
