AR-News: (US-GA) One more article on major cock-fighting bust

[Phyllis Bedford]

This is from today's AJC. Unfortunately the sheriff's office is taking
some heat for enforcing the animal cruelty law - something rarely done in
Georgia. Letters to the editor might help encourage other law enforcement
agencies to do the same. Send them to letters at ajc.com or use the on-line
form at http://www.ajc.com/opinion/content/opinion/letters/sendletter.html 

Cockfight sting nets 260 arrests in Barrow
http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/0404/20bust.html

By SAEED AHMED
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 04/19/04

For months, Larry Fleming's neighbors in the Mulberry River subdivision in
Winder had flooded the Barrow County Sheriff's Department with complaints.
Almost every Sunday, they'd see a steady stream of cars - most with
out-of-county tags - file along the gravel driveway of the Fleming
property on Hancock Bridge Road. Soon after, the air would fill with the
loud slapping of furious wings.

They'd suspected Fleming was hosting weekly bouts of cockfights. And they
were infuriated the sheriff was not taking action, Sheriff Joel Robinson
said.

It all changed Sunday afternoon. After an eight-month investigation,
Barrow authorities - along with law enforcement officers from nine other
agencies - moved onto Fleming's 11-acre tract of land, arresting 260
people who had gathered to gamble.

Officers found large groups sitting in circles inside a shed deep in the
woods as bloodied roosters, with curved steel spurs attached to their
legs, tore at one another. The unlucky losers were discarded in a heap to
the side.

Money changed hands. Beer flowed freely. Someone manned a grill outside.
But what most unsettled Barrow County Sheriff Joel Robinson were the
children. More than three dozen of them. Some barely months old cradled in
their mother's arms; most about 4 or 5 years old, hiding behind adult legs
when officers arrived.

"That got to a lot of the officers," Robinson said. "All the kids down
there, being exposed to all of this at such a young age."
More than 24 hours after the raid, authorities on Monday night were still
processing some of the 260 people arrested. The participants were charged
with cruelty to animals and gaming.

The owner of the property, Larry Otis Fleming, and his wife, Misty, both
32, remained in custody Monday evening. The couple had purchased the
property in March 2003, according to records. They lived on a single-wide
mobile home on the premises.

"They held these events almost every Sunday, unless it rained or if it was
cold. And they charged, I think, $10 for attendance," Robinson said.
Officers recovered about 138 fighting roosters. They also found six dogs,
but don't believe they had been forced to fight, said Maj. Murray Kogod.
Ninety-three cars, some with tags from Florida and California, were
seized. Only 20 of those were from within the state.

Cockfighting is illegal in many states, including Georgia, where it was
outlawed in 1933. Still, gamecock farms in places like Hawkinsville and
LaGrange advertise in trade magazines like Grit and Steel.

By Monday morning, the angry phone calls at the Barrow County Sheriff's
Department had given way to congratulatory ones.

"One of the neighbors was so happy about the arrests, he sent down a bunch
of pizzas for the folks here," Robinson said.