Fines for Californians guilty of staging cockfights or training roosters to be gamecocks will double in January from $5,000 to $10,000 thanks to a new law signed by Gov. Jerry Brown July 13.
The move is an attempt to curb the illegal fights of which there have been 100 major arrests in 35 counties involving more than 20,000 live or dead birds.
Los Angeles, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego and Fresno counties have the highest number of cockfighting incidents.
The San Bernardino District Attorney’s Office, which sponsored the bill – SB 1145 by Sen. Bill Emmerson, a Hemet Republican – notes that in California a first offense cockfighting Read more »