Cockfight ring alleged in charges

Cockfight ring alleged in charges
By Dan Hilborn, Burnaby NOW assistant editor
Published Feb. 2, 2003

A trial is underway in Vancouver this week for three people charged with 'keeping a cockpit' as the result of a joint RCMP and SPCA raid in the Big Bend region of Burnaby in August 2001.
Rodente Callusin, Esther Callusin and Gerson Frias each face up to six months in jail and fines up to $2,000 after an alleged cockfight ring was discovered while police were investigating a nearby murder.
The SPCA was called in and 41 of the alleged fighting birds were seized and destroyed under terms of federal law. Also seized were slasher knives and leather straps used to attach the blades to the birds.
Cockfighting is a popular but illegal betting sport that involves fights to the death between specially bred birds, which often have spectacularly colourful plumage.
Rodente Callusin was previously found guilty of a charge of keeping a cockpit when the SPCA and RCMP uncovered a similar enterprise on the Thorne Avenue property in February 1998.
That case was also uncovered when police were in the neighbourhood responding to an unrelated call.
If found guilty of these new charges, the three suspects may face up to six months in jail and fines of up to $2,000.
At the time of the raid, SPCA official Shawn Eccles told the Burnaby NOW that there was no evidence of any fighting on the site, just the facility to do so.
"It's not illegal to breed or keep the birds," Eccles said. "It's the keeping of the cockpit where the problem lies. We found a facility which could be used for fighting, and we'll leave it up to a judge to determine if it is indeed a cockpit."
At the time of the most recent raid, Burnaby RCMP also discovered three separate marijuana grow operations in the immediate neighbourhood.