RUSK COUNTY, Texas (EAST TEXAS NEWS) — Several roosters rescued from a property in Rusk County were euthanized following an investigation into cockfighting.
Four individuals were charged in April with organizing cockfights after investigators found 56 dead roosters and other materials related to the fights on a property along FM 839 near Reklaw.
Eleven live birds were located and rescued from the site.
One died from injuries, and investigators later learned that the remaining ten were suffering from infectious laryngotracheitis, a respiratory disease, according to Rusk County Sheriff Johnwayne Valdez.
The ten roosters were subsequently euthanized, Valdez said.
Crystal Velázquez, 21, Gerardo Rangel, 47, Christopher Juárez, 19, and Francisco Guerrero, 57, face felony cockfighting charges and misdemeanor counts of resisting arrest.
