An East Palo Alto resident who allegedly kept 56 chickens including many roosters for cockfighting, will face five charges, said Buffy Martin-Tarbox, spokeswoman for the Peninsula Humane Society & SPCA.
Aldenni de Jesus Trujillo Santiago, 29, will be charged with three felonies: fighting gamecocks, mutilating gamecocks and neglect. Lesser alternative charges on which he could be convicted are two misdemeanors: engaging in cockfighting and possession of an animal for fighting purposes. If convicted, he could receive up to four years and eight months in state prison, San Mateo County District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe said. Trujillo Santiago will be arraigned on Thursday in San Mateo County Superior Court.
East Palo Alto police busted the alleged cockfighting operation on March 23 after receiving a call about an aggressive dog that was loose on the street. The dog was associated with the property where the chickens were found in the 1200 block of Cypress Street, police said. Officers notified the Peninsula Humane Society, which investigates suspected animal cruelty cases.
Dozens of the birds had been “dubbed” — meaning their combs, wattles and earlobes were removed — to make them more lean for fighting and fight longer, she said. This type of modification of roosters is consistent with cockfighting. Many of the birds still had open and bleeding wounds from the dubbing process, Humane Society officials said. All of the birds had to be euthanized.
The case is one of the largest in San Mateo County in recent years, San Mateo District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe said at the time of Trujillo Santiago’s arrest.
“The numbers (of birds) we see are five, 15, 20. This would be a large operation,” he said.
Trujillo Santiago had only one prior prosecution, in June 2013, for a state Fish and Game violation of fishing without a license and was later convicted, Wagstaffe said.