Cockfights gone, but shop stays open
THIS is a plucking disgrace.
A Bushwick pet store remains open for business, even though it was clipped earlier this month in a sweeping crackdown on cockfighting.
Police broke into the basement of Pet NV at 71 Central Ave. on Feb. 9, and rescued 30 to 50 fighting birds from individual metal cages.
Shop owner Jeremias Nieves was arrested and charged with animal fighting.
But the store remains open, selling pet food and other supplies. The store no longer sells dogs or cats.
“You can’t just have a pet store and run a cockfight,” said Monica Suma, 28, as she passed the dingy shop on Tuesday.
Still, a neighbor said she heard what she decribed as “chicken” noises coming from the shop Tuesday morning.
“I’m really upset about it,” said the woman, who declined to give her name. “I have a feeling it’s still going on.”
The roosters that were confiscated by police exhibited the telltale physical signs of having been bred, trained and altered for fighting, authorities said after the raid.
Many birds were missing wattles and combs on their heads, and feathers had been removed from their chests and legs, police said.
Fighting equipment was also found in the shop, including bandages used to attach sharp spurs to the birds, sparring muffs and stuffed rooster dummies.
Veterinary drugs, antibiotics, steroids, syringes and vitamins were also recovered, along with bird sales catalogues, cops said.
The family-run store has been open for 25 years, according to a man who identified himself as “the owner.”
“I had nothing to do with it,” he said Tuesday. “That was all downstairs.”
The man also claimed the store never sold pets, but a customer said she bought a sickly kitten from the shop last year.
“He had mites in his ears and fleas,” recalled Katie White, 25. “But the manager gave me free health products.”
The cockfighting bust extended to Queens and Ulster Counties and was the largest takedown and rooster rescue in state history, according to Attorney General Eric Schneiderman.
As many as 3,000 birds were seized, and more than 70 people rounded up in “Operation Angry Birds.” and nine people were arrested.
Schneiderman’s office said the investigation was ongoing.