MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – Police say an illegal dumping investigation on a lot deep in the rural Redland area of far southwestern Miami-Dade County turned up a cockfighting operation, leading to the arrest of a 27-year-old Homestead man early Tuesday morning.
According to an arrest report, on March 14, Miami-Dade police were at the property, located at Southwest 320th Street and 228th Avenue, when they saw Guadalupe Gabriel Zavala and another man carrying caged roosters.
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Police executed a search warrant and said they discovered several caged roosters, along with “various paraphernalia such as syringes, vials containing medication that (are) consistent with the preparation process of fighting roosters for gaming purposes, along with several agitators used to excite the roosters to engage them in preparation to train and/or fight.”
They said they also found a dead rooster and “observed several roosters with shaved feathers within cages” along with boxing mitts and Vaseline.
The arrest report states Zavala told investigators that “he would breed the roosters, feed them and (he) gives them medical care when required.”
“Zavala also stated that he subleases a portion where his roosters are housed within the lot and pays approximately $300-$400 a month for his section,” police wrote.
Authorities continued their investigation and, at around 4:30 a.m. Tuesday, pulled Zavala over near his home for having a headlight out, they said.
Officers then took him into custody on two felony animal fighting charges and a misdemeanor animal cruelty charge.
Zavala was set to be released from the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center on a $5,500 bond Tuesday.