Haha. This one is going on my little own mayberry.
Cocke roosters subject of suit
Owner says birds illegally destroyed over his objections
By J.J. STAMBAUGH,
stambaugh@knews.com
July 4, 2006
A man whose roosters were killed last year during a massive FBI-led raid on the Del Rio Cockfighting Pit in Cocke County is suing the Humane Society of the United States, court records show.
William Todd Webb of Sevierville filed the lawsuit last month in Cocke County Circuit Court. He is seeking $25,000 in compensatory damages and additional punitive damages to be "determined by a jury," according to the complaint.
"Whether cockfighting is right or wrong, and whether or not our client was involved in cockfighting, any person who has property in the United States is entitled to have that property protected and to have due process before the destruction of that property, especially by a private organization," said one of Webb's attorneys, Joe Baker.
"We'd just like to see that justice is done," Baker said.
Baker also said the lawsuit was filed against the national organization, not "local Humane Societies and animal shelters."
John Goodwin, the national Humane Society's deputy manager for animal fighting issues, was named as a defendant in the lawsuit along with "John Does one through twenty-five," court records show.
Goodwin, who works in Washington, D.C., but took part in the task force that raided the Del Rio pit on June 11, 2005, declined to comment on the lawsuit.
The raid, which was part of the illegal gambling arm of a multi-pronged investigation into public corruption and organized crime in Cocke County dubbed "Operation Rose Thorn," led to misdemeanor charges against 143 people, most of whom later pleaded guilty.
More than 300 roosters were euthanized during the operation and about $40,000 in cash was seized. The federal government recently seized the cockfighting pit, alleging in court documents that it was a massive illegal gambling operation.
Webb is one of at least six people cited for misdemeanor cockfighting-related offenses during the raid who have elected to fight the charges in court. He is scheduled to go to trial next month, Baker said.
According to Webb's lawsuit, Goodwin and others conspired to destroy his roosters and killed the birds "by placing the roosters in 55 gallon drums and piping in carbon monoxide."
"Despite the fact that the plaintiff had claimed his roosters and that the defendants and others had told the plaintiff that if he claimed his roosters, he could take possession of them, the defendants willfully and maliciously and intentionally destroyed the plaintiff's personal property over the plaintiff's objection," the lawsuit states.
"The acts of the defendants in destroying the plaintiff's personal property over his objection constitutes outrageous conduct which should not be tolerated in a civilized society," the suit claims.
The Humane Society was criticized after the Del Rio operation for killing the birds. Shortly after the raid, Goodwin said the 305 birds found at the site were killed in the most painless way possible.
"I don't like the euthanasia," he said. "I don't like seeing those little guys die. The problem is that these people are breeding these gamecocks to be extremely aggressive to any other rooster they see. It's not like we can adopt them out to families."
Among the targets of the Rose Thorn probe is former Sheriff D.C. Ramsey, who resigned early this year after it was disclosed that he was being investigated for alleged connections to organized gambling, including video poker machines and cockfighting.
Ramsey hasn't been charged, but his nephew and former chief deputy, Patrick Taylor, has pleaded guilty to conspiring to traffic in stolen property. His plea agreement shielded him from possible prosecution for gambling-related offenses.
Seven other Cocke County lawmen have been among the more than 170 people charged thus far in the probe, which has reportedly uncovered cocaine trafficking, chop shops, organized gambling, racketeering and prostitution, according to federal prosecutors.