Animal sanctuary that took in roosters from Buckley cockfighting ring say they are not aggressive [Video]

PIERCE COUNTY, Wash. — For the last two weeks, Heartwood Haven has cared for more than 100 roosters seized from a cockfighting ring bust in Buckley. The nonprofit animal rescue and sanctuary couldn’t publicize it was holding the birds for Pierce County Animal Control until the courts officially released them. Now, the work begins to find new, loving homes for the roosters.

“They are trained and traumatized to fight one another,” Kate Tsyrklevich, co-founder and executive director of Heartwood Haven, said. 

Tsyrklevich said the birds don’t attack humans and are not aggressive. 

“There’s almost no human aggression because nobody who’s a cocker wants to be attacked almost 500 times a day,” she said. 

Tsyrklevich said she is frustrated with how law enforcement, including the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department, routinely calls cockfighting birds “dangerous” or “aggressive.” Pierce …