UPSON COUNTY, Ga. - Upson County deputies arrested 45 people in what they call a cockfighting bust, and said an event was being held under the guise of a poultry show.
Sheriff Dan Kilgore said investigators received a tip about cockfighting on a property on Atwater Road. When authorities descended on the property Saturday morning, deputies arrested 44 adults and one juvenile. Several others escaped from the property.
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A sign at the property read, "Hilltop Poultry Show." Sheriff Kilgore showed FOX 5 News evidence seized, including numerous cockfighting blades, called gaffes, a grinding tool for blades, and a weigh-in board he said determined match-ups. Some of the gaffes had blood on them.
"I can't imagine anybody taking a prize chicken to a show and attaching steel blades to his legs, so he can fight another chicken," Sheriff Kilgore said, who also described seeing numerous chickens in cages and a fighting pit.
Kilgore said the people arrested had not yet begun the cockfighting, so everyone was arrested for criminal attempt to commit animal cruelty. He said some individuals confessed that they were there for cockfighting.
The property owner, Earnest Sams, did not want to speak to FOX 5 News on camera, but called the Sheriff's allegations false and claims his family breeds chickens for a living. The event on Saturday was a poultry show for other breeders, he said.
"I think it's really messed up. They had the wrong idea," said Benjamin Allen, who was also arrested and is disputing the charges. "Most people up here were breeders or buyers."
Some people arrested told FOX 5 the gaffes were being sold and even raffled off as collectibles. They disputed any signs they were ever used or had blood on them.