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Article Archive > Brothers held over cockfight allegations Brothers held over cockfight allegations EATONTOWN - Police arrested two brothers from Jersey City early Sunday morning on multiple charges of animal cruelty for engaging in illegal cockfighting, officials said. Pedro Jose Tejada, 44, and Harry Tejada, 33, both of Duncan Avenue, Jersey City, were pulled over by an Eatontown police officer in the vicinity of Route 35 around 2:30 a.m. after one of the officers spotted a right brake light out on a late model Acura, said Chief Victor "Buddy" Amato, humane law enforcement officer for the Eatontown-based Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, who was called on to the case. Amato said that when police inspected the inside of the car, they found four live roosters - three in pillow cases and one in a cardboard box - and four dead roosters in a pillow case in the trunk of the car. The two men were charged with possession of drug paraphernalia including hypodermic needles and syringes authorities said were used to drug the roosters, and sets of metal spurs that are attached to rooster's legs during a cockfight. All the roosters had also been surgically altered - their crowns cut off and their chests shaved - to enhance their fighting ability, Amato said. The men also were charged with possession of illegal weapons for carrying two hunting knives, authorities said. Also confiscated was an undisclosed amount of cash carried by both men, according to authorities. One of the four live roosters brought to the Red Bank Animal Hospital had to be euthanized because of the severity of its wounds. The two men were arrested and brought to the Monmouth County Jail, where bail was set at $26,000 for each man with no 10 percent cash option. The Eatontown police officers who made the arrests were Officer Chris Bartlett; Sgt. William Lucia; and Officer Chris Casson. The location of the cockfighting or whether it actually took place remains under investigation, Amato said. |