Cockfighting Raid in California Uncovers Children Living in sheds, $1M Meth Stash
LOS ANGELES – Sheriff's deputies serving a search warrant at a cockfighting operation near Los Angeles found children as young as four living in squalid sheds and a methamphetamine stash worth $1 million.
Authorities also recovered 100 roosters and several firearms during the raid at the site in Antelope Valley, Calif., the Los Angeles Times reported.
Police arrested six adults on suspicion of narcotics violations.
The seven children, aged between four and 17 years, were turned over to child welfare officials.
I wasn't planning on blogging tonight, but then I stumbled upon this. When I first saw the headline, I thought I had accidentally logged onto "TheOnion.com", not "FoxNews.com". I double-checked and saw that I was indeed on the Fox News website and naturally had to open the link.
How could this be? Calfornia? Had it just been a meth stash uncovered, I would have believed it. Had it been dog-fighting, I could have believed it. Had sheds not been mentioned, I could have believed it. But with cockfighting and children living in sheds, I would have said West Virginia, Arkansas, or one of those other 'odd' states. How could ALL three of these things happen in any one place, especially in Los Angeles!? I know it's a major city with typical issues; drugs, poverty, violence, joblessness, etc, but roosters? Cockfighting? And kids in sheds? This just doesn't make any sense to me. Did the kids think that the roosters were just their pets? Also, who was on meth? The adults, kids, or even better, the roosters? I have a very active imagination, and this story just set it off!
How could this be? Calfornia? Had it just been a meth stash uncovered, I would have believed it. Had it been dog-fighting, I could have believed it. Had sheds not been mentioned, I could have believed it. But with cockfighting and children living in sheds, I would have said West Virginia, Arkansas, or one of those other 'odd' states. How could ALL three of these things happen in any one place, especially in Los Angeles!? I know it's a major city with typical issues; drugs, poverty, violence, joblessness, etc, but roosters? Cockfighting? And kids in sheds? This just doesn't make any sense to me. Did the kids think that the roosters were just their pets? Also, who was on meth? The adults, kids, or even better, the roosters? I have a very active imagination, and this story just set it off!
As I read further and noticed that the actual site of the raid was a place called "Antelope Valley", it started to make a little more sense. So, with that being said, I'd like to ask all news sources to be more specific when reporting the "where" at the beginning of a story. Antelope Valley (read more about it by clicking here!) is probably as similar to Los Angeles as Pittsfield, MA (the boonies, Western Massachusetts!) is to Boston!
On a side note, any time I hear about cockfighting (it's infrequent, but every time it DOES come up), I remember the episode of Seinfeld where Kramer has a 'pet' rooster involved in a cockfighting ring. Hilarious. Almost as hilarious as my mental image of what was going on in Antelope Valley. I know Big Ran will remember this and agree with me.
-KC Jones
