Published: March 30, 2008 09:14 pm      

Troopers raid Sunday morning chicken fight

BARTLEY — An anonymous tip Sunday morning led troopers with the Welch Detachment of the West Virginia State Police to a chicken fight in a remote McDowell County barn.

State police issued 46 misdemeanor citations for “attendance of an animal fight venture,” and arrested one man who attempted to flee the sight of the fight on foot, according to Trooper J.W. Keffer.

“He just didn’t want to get a ticket,” Keffer said of the individual who tried to flee. “There may be other arrests pending. Several people left vehicles at the scene. We had them towed. We’ll issue citations when they come to pick up their vehicles.” As a result, the case remains under investigation, according to Keffer.

Keffer said he received a tip by telephone that the chicken fight was taking place in a barn at Bartley No. 3 Hollow. Police arrived on the scene at 10:30 a.m. “The barn was pretty nice on the outside,” Keffer said. “On the inside, there was a chicken ring in the middle that was surrounded by bleachers and several chicken pens. There were also two small heating stoves,” he said.

Under West Virginia code, the penalty for a conviction on the charge of attending an animal fighting venture is a minimum fine of $100 and not more than $1,000.

“We think they must have just gotten started,” Keffer said. “We did not see any chicken carcasses at the scene.” He said that after state police issued the citations, the people who were cited were allowed to take their chickens and leave.

In addition to Keffer, Senior Trooper K.L. Pack and Trooper First Class C.K. Morton, also of the Welch Detachment, participated in the raid.

– Contact Bill Archer at barcher@bdtonline.com