A Man Was Killed by His Rooster While Taking It to a Cockfight

(TMU) — Last week, a man in India was killed after getting in a fight with his rooster while on his way to take the bird to a cockfight. The strange incident occurred on January 15 in the village of Pragadavaram in southern India’s Andhra Pradesh state.

50-year-old Saripalli Chanavenkateshwaram Rao tied blades to the rooster’s claws in anticipation of the fight but the weapons were ultimately turned against him when the pair got into a scuffle on the way to the event. The man was somehow hit in the neck with one of the blades during the altercation. He was taken to the hospital where he later died of a stroke.

Station house officer Kranti Kumar told CNN that Rao was a regular at local cockfights. His prized rooster made a getaway attempt on the way to his most recent match.

According to Gauri Maulekhi, from India’s People for Animals foundation, cockfighting continues to be a problem in India despite the activity having been made illegal way back in 1960.

A supreme court judgment in 2014 upheld the ban of cockfighting under India’s Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, but little is done to enforce the law.

“The offenses have been made very clear and explained to the district and state authorities, but they choose to turn a blind eye towards it. It is not just for entertainment that these animals are made to fight, but it is (also) due to the heavy betting and gambling that goes on in the garb of these events,” Maulekhi said.

“I don’t think culture has anything to do with it—it is purely a money game and hysteria takes over, reason and logic just take a back seat such that neither the animal’s welfare nor the people’s welfare is enough to stop it,” Maulekhi added.

The cockfight continued without any arrests.

By John Vibes | Creative Commons | TheMindUnleashed.com