Document reveals roosters were euthanized 1 day after being rescued by Colorado officials: "A gut punch"
In the days following an Adams County-led animal rescue of 32 roosters, all Jewel Johnson could think about was what happened to those birds.
On July 18, the Adams County Sheriff's Office, with the help of Animal Control and the Bureau of Animal Protection, rescued 39 birds, 32 of which were roosters, from a home in Watkins.
"I think it's really important we start asking questions," Johnson said. "I already had a feeling that they were going to be killed."
Investigators believe the arrested suspect was using the roosters for cockfighting.
"They're going to have to be evaluated, so we don't have a full status on them yet," said Adam Sherman with the Adams County Sheriff's Office. "The birds have to be healthy enough. You have to make sure their demeanor is okay to be around other animals."
That interview from July 19, was just one day after the roosters were rescued.
"Which was the first I heard about it, and I was surprised that I hadn't heard about it from the authorities yet. I heard it from you," Johnson told CBS News Colorado.
Johnson, who runs the Rooster Sanctuary at Danzig's Roost in Bennett, says she was determined to find out what happened to them. She says she made multiple attempts to help authorities by possibly taking some of those roosters in, especially those that may not be safe enough to place for adoption.
"We're only really a bike ride away from where the birds were taken and there's no other sanctuary in the country of our kind where we specialize in taking in large numbers of birds from cockfighting and are adopting them out or housing them permanently," she said.
Johnson tells CBS Colorado she learned all of the roosters were killed after a call with Adams County Animal Control on July 31.
"It was a gut punch," she said.
In response to these claims, CBS Colorado obtained a county document with an inventory of all 39 birds -- roosters, chickens and hens -- rescued from the seizure.
Twenty-seven of the roosters were euthanized the same day the sheriff's office spoke about the success of the rescue. Two more were euthanized the following day.
The remainder, listed as either hens or chickens, were placed for adoption.
The Adams County Sheriff's Office released a statement saying the roosters were euthanized based on recommendations of a veterinarian with the Bureau of Animal Protection:
"The loss of any animal is devastating. Unfortunately, in this case, the roosters were euthanized based on the recommendation of a veterinarian with the Bureau of Animal Protection, who was on scene as the search warrant was conducted. From the signed search warrant itself, 'Authorization for the euthanizing of any chickens and/or roosters determined to be used for animal fighting operations as deemed appropriate by Animal Control Officers or by the involved licensed veterinarian.' Due to the bodily modifications for fighting, the behavior of the birds while being handled in the field, and other factors it was deemed that the roosters were not safe for potential rehabilitation. Hens and chicks that were recovered were attempted to be sent to Danzig's Roost Sanctuary but they refused to take them. The animal shelter was able to get the hens and chicks adopted."
When CBS Colorado asked the Bureau of Animal Protection about their involvement in the decision to euthanize these roosters, a spokesperson said they were not asked to provide medical advice regarding possible rehabilitation:
"The BAP team determined there was extensive evidence to support that the birds were being used for cockfighting. The team documented multiple traumatic injuries on the roosters and the birds exhibited behaviors consistent with extreme psychological trauma. While rehabilitation is always the preferred course of action in cruelty cases and BAP can help facilitate short-term or long-term homes for seized animals, there are also some situations where this may not be a responsible or humane option. Making these decisions is never easy for an investigative agency, and we understand that ACSO had to make a difficult decision."
Johnson says regardless of the veterinarian's concerns about the bird's behavior, 24 hours is not enough time to determine if they're capable of being rehomed or taken to a sanctuary like hers.
"They need a lot more time," she said. "They need a little bit of handling and they need a routine in order to accurately assess what their behavior is truly like."
A spokesperson for the county claims Animal Control and the Riverdale Animal Shelter reached out to Johnson as early as the day of the bust to see if she would take animals that could be rescued.
"Those animals legally had to be taken to a shelter," the spokesperson said. "And they were. A couple of days later, after the animals were at Riverdale regional shelter, shelter staff called again letting Danzig's know the animals were now available. They declined to take them.
Johnson says she didn't even know there was a bust until she spoke with CBS Colorado on July 19. July 24 is when she first received an email from the animal shelter.
"I spoke with a shelter representative the following day, briefly, and I asked her if these roosters were from the recent seizure in Watkins, and she said she couldn't confirm or discuss anything about those birds," Johnson said.
She says the birds she was being offered to help take care of were backyard roosters, not roosters from the seizure, as well as hens and chickens. She would have taken any of the roosters that were allegedly used for cockfighting because that's what her sanctuary was built to take in.
"I would've done whatever I could to help the roosters, absolutely," she said.
CBS Colorado requested interviews from the county and sheriff's office about the rooster seizure and is still waiting to hear back.
"I know that, to a lot of people, they're just chickens," Johnson said. "But it's more than that. It's the way, as a human species, that we're treating animals that are at our mercy and we do need to show them kindness."
