Roosters euthanized a day after being rescued by Colorado officials: ‘A punch in the gut,’ document reveals

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 assistance of Animal Control and the Bureau of Animal Welfare, saved 39 birds32 of which were roosters, from a home in Watkins.

“I think it’s really important to start asking questions,” Johnson said. “I already had a feeling 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 of the Adams County Sheriff’s Office. “The birds have to be healthy enough. You have to make sure their behavior is OK to be around other animals.”

That interview on July 19, was just one day after the roosters were rescued.

“Which was the first I heard about it and I was surprised I hadn’t heard from the authorities yet. I heard 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’s made several attempts to help authorities, eventually taking in some of those roosters, especially those that aren’t safe enough to be put up for adoption.

“We’re really just a bike ride away from where the birds were taken and there’s no other sanctuary in the country like ours where we specialize in taking large numbers of cockfighting birds and adopting them out or to house them permanently.” she said.

Johnson told CBS Colorado that he learned all the roosters had been killed after a call with Adams County Animal Control on July 31.

“It was a punch in the gut,” she said.

In response to those claims, CBS Colorado obtained a county document with an inventory of all 39 birds — roosters, hens and hens — rescued from impoundment.

Twenty-seven of the roosters were euthanized the same day the sheriff’s office spoke of the rescue’s success. Two others were euthanized the next day.

The rest, listed as hens or hens, were placed for adoption.

The Adams County Sheriff’s Office released a statement saying the roosters were euthanized based on the recommendations of a Bureau of Animal Welfare veterinarian:

“The loss of any animal is devastating. Unfortunately, in this case, the roosters were euthanized at the recommendation of a Bureau of Animal Welfare veterinarian who was on scene while the search warrant was in progress. From the search warrant signed by himself, ‘Authorization to euthanize any hens and/or roosters determined to be used for animal fighting operations as deemed necessary by animal control officers or the licensed veterinarian involved.” Due to body modifications for fighting, the birds’ behavior during field handling, and other factors, the roosters were deemed unsafe for potential rehabilitation. The chickens and chickens that were recovered tried to be sent to the Sanctuary in Danzig, but they refused to take them. The animal shelter was able to adopt the chickens and chickens.”

When CBS Colorado asked the Bureau of Animal Welfare about their involvement in the decision to euthanize these roosters, a spokesperson said they were not asked to provide medical advice on possible rehabilitation:

“The BAP team determined that there is ample evidence to support that the birds were used for cockfighting. The team documented multiple traumatic injuries in 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- or long-term housing 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 that regardless of the vet’s concerns about the bird’s behavior, 24 hours is not enough time to determine if they can be 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 to accurately gauge what their behavior is really like.”

A county spokesman says Animal Control and the Riverdale Animal Shelter have been reaching out to Johnson since the day of the bust to see if he would take animals that could be saved.

“Those animals legally had to be taken to a shelter,” the spokesman said. “And they were. A few days later, after the animals arrived at the Riverdale Regional Shelter, shelter staff called again to let Danzig know the animals were now available. They refused to take them.

Johnson says he didn’t even know there was a crisis until he spoke to CBS Colorado on July 19. On July 24, he first received an email from the animal shelter.

“I spoke with a shelter representative the other day briefly and asked her if these roosters came from the recent catch in Watkins and she said she couldn’t confirm or discuss anything about those birds,” Johnson said.

She says the birds she was offered to help care for were backyard roosters, not impounded roosters, as well as hens and hens. She would have taken any of the roosters that were used for cockfighting because that is what her sanctuary was built for.

“I would have done anything I could to help the roosters, absolutely,” she said.

CBS Colorado has requested interviews with the county and sheriff’s office about the rooster’s seizure and is still waiting to hear back.

“I know for a lot of people, they’re just chickens,” Johnson said. “But it’s more than that. It’s how we, as a human species, treat the animals that are at our mercy, and we need to show them kindness.”