Heartwood Haven in Roy was on the cusp of accepting 64 more roosters from one of the biggest cockfighting rescues in Washington state history after the animal sanctuary previously rescued 40 roosters from a sting in Yakima County in April, but those plans ended in tragedy in early May.
Kate Tsyrklevich, with Heartwood Haven, said the sanctuary worked with both the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Yakima County Sheriff’s Office in preparation of rescuing 64 additional roosters from the same cockfighting operation. Before the fowl could be transported, all 64 roosters were “euthanized,” or shot with a 12-gauge shotgun, Tsyrklevich said.
The sad outcome has Tsyrklevich confused and angry.
Tsyrklevich said ATF was working to gain a seizure warrant, and prior to that, she attended a conference call with an ATF agent familiar with the circumstances and a Yakima County Sheriff’s Office animal control officer. Heartwood Haven planned to rescue the roosters through a voluntary surrender of all the birds to avoid using force, she said.
“We came up with a plan and ATF had to talk with the higher ups to make this happen. We were waiting for that to happen,” Tsyrklevich said. “That conference call happened on Friday, May 3. On Friday, May 10, we received a call from the ATF agents that all the birds had been killed.”
Yakima County Sheriff’s Office confirmed in a post on Facebook that due to “limitations in the workforce and resources,” it had to euthanize the fowl.
“Ultimately, due to the lack of available options for the care and housing of the cockfighting roosters, we decided to euthanize them humanely. This was a challenging decision, but one that was necessary given the circumstances,” the sheriff’s office wrote. “It is legal in Washington state to euthanize animals using a firearm. Other legal options would be to ring the necks until dead or using a knife to slit the throats of the roosters.”
Tsyrklevich is puzzled that the Yakima County Sheriff’s Office claimed there was a lack of available options for the care and housing of the roosters when Heartwood Haven previously rescued 40 roosters in April. All of the birds rescued in that operation were adopted by residents in surrounding communities.
“It’s shocking,” Tsyrklevich said of the birds’ euthanasia. “At first, I didn’t understand why. I thought it’s probably because they didn’t want to deal with it. They’re just some chickens, and they probably didn’t care. Possibly, they even got some joy out of it — because why else would you shoot 64 birds if you didn’t have to? The animal control officer who was there on site had spoken with us. She met us before at the first seizure. They knew who we were. They were aware that we were able to and ready to take all the birds. What it comes down to is that they didn’t want to wait for us to get there. It was a Friday.
“The animal control there works within the sheriff’s [office]. They kind of tried to say it’s ATF’s fault that this happened, and were trying to say they didn’t even know us or were working with us,” Tsyrklevich added. “None of this stuff was written up until after we started asking questions, and after they started getting contacted by the news, media and our attorney. Then all of the sudden their write-ups started to come up after that.”
Tsyrklevich added the sheriff’s office could have waited three hours while Heartwood Haven’s crew drove over for the rescue. Since the birds were euthanized she said she learned this also happens to other animals.
“This is what also happens to dogs. The Sheriff’s Office also [tried] to shift the story and twist it around, saying these birds are dangerous. They’re cockfighting birds. I think their exact words were that they’re ‘angry, aggressive birds specifically bred for cockfighting,’ ” Tsyrklevich said. “That’s so ridiculous because it shows, A., they’re trying to sway public opinion by playing into fears people already have. Or B., they have no idea what the hell they’re talking about. Those birds are handled all the time, and they’re not human aggressive at all.”
Yakima County Sheriff’s Office claimed the opposite, however, writing on Facebook that a veterinarian would not “put themselves in harm’s way of aggressive, angry roosters specifically bred for fighting.” Tsyrklevich and Heartwood Haven pondered why families with children would adopt these roosters if those claims were true.
“That doesn’t make sense because we’ve placed hundreds of these guys into private homes with young children,” she said. “They’re just trying to make it seem as if they did the right thing here. They call it ‘humane euthanasia’ but admit they don’t have a vet and that basically this is the only method of euthanasia they performed. I won’t call it euthanasia, but this is how they kill animals. They just shoot them.”
Tsyrklevich said Heartwood Haven volunteers, who have placed around 150 roosters in the past, spent a lot of time and resources preparing to rescue the euthanized birds.
“The other thing that doesn’t make sense for them to say is that they’re a small team and didn’t have the staff for it,” she said. “We’re an even smaller team, and we were able to find placement for these roosters and get ready for this.”
She ultimately believes this was done because of the inconvenience to the sheriff’s office.
“We’re talking to various people about this. What we really want to do is change the law where using a shotgun or firearm is not considered a legal form of euthanasia, at least for animal control officers, and also change the RCW code so that animal control is required to contact rescues prior to killing animals.”
