Cockfighting raid in U.S.
State and federal authorities described a weekend cockfighting raid as the biggest in U.S. history after agents found more than 4,400 birds being raised and trained to kill at the same compound where they carried out what was then the largest bust six years ago. Hundreds more birds were found at a second training ground nearby in Nestor, near the Otay Mesa industrial area of San Diego, officials told NBC affiliate KNSD-TV. They said more than 5,000 birds were discovered at the two locations altogether. The raid culminated a six-month investigation involving nine local, state and federal agencies in cooperation with the Humane Society of the United States and the San Diego Humane Society. Fifty people were charged with misdemeanors punishable by up to a year in jail and a $5,000 fine, and were ordered to answer to cockfighting charges in early December, said Paul Levikow, a spokesman for the San Diego County district attorneys office. Another 50 people were still being sought Tuesday, authorities said. San Diego is a major naval center, and the district attorneys office said some of those charged were retired or active-duty military personnel. Many of the birds were underfed, injured or mutilated for competition, authorities said. About 80 percent were euthanized. 
In the United States -Â cockfighting is widely considered a barbarity, a bloody sport in which trained roosters, often pumped up with aggression-boosting drugs and sporting spurs or razors, fight to the death. When Louisianas new ban goes into effect next summer, it will be outlawed in all 50 states.