NORTHAMPTON (AP) -- Police have seized nearly 400 chickens and roosters from what they're calling an illegal cockfighting operation on a Massachusetts farm.
The Daily Hampshire Gazette says the birds were removed from a barn at Ravenwold Greenhouses in Northampton by police and the MSPCA Friday.
Animal control officers discovered signs of cockfighting during a barn inspection, including many roosters with sharpened spurs.
The MSPCA's Rob Halpin told WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Carl Stevens that about 250 of the birds are fighting roosters--and he said they're going to have to be euthanized.
"The birds are incredibly aggressive," he said. "They've been bred from the most aggressive stock, and they've been trained to maim and kill."
Halpin said they'll do what they can to help the hens and chicks survive.
The farm's owner says he rented the space to another person and had never been inside.
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WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Carl Stevens reports