Police Chief Killed By Cockfighting Rooster During Raid

In “cockfights” where roosters are forced into combat with one another, razor blades are typically attached to the legs of the birds so their attacks are more lethal. People who handle the animals during these contests are sometimes injured by the animals because they can be difficult to control. 

During a raid on an illegal cockfight in a small Philippine town, a police chief was killed by one of the roosters in this manner. The raid took place in Madugang village in Northern Samar province on Monday. San Jose Police Chief Lt. Christian Bolok bled to death after a razor blade on one of the birds slashed an artery in his leg.

Provincial Governor Edwin Ongchuan said that the injury was sustained while Bolok was attempting to confiscate the birds.

“He was trying to confiscate the roosters but the problem was the rooster’s blade may have been laced with poison,” Ongchuan told The Associated Press.

Three farmers were arrested in the raid and seven roosters were confiscated, although police only gathered 550 pesos which is worth about $10 in cash.

Cockfighting is very popular in the Philippines and many of the matches are actually illegal. However, the events have been banned because of the coronavirus pandemic, and authorities have been cracking down on any gathering involving more than a few people.

The Philippines has the second-highest number of infections in Southeast Asia, with more than 375,000 infections and at least 7,114 deaths recorded since the pandemic began.

“We grieve with our provincial police in the loss of such a committed and selfless officer whose enforcement of our community quarantine regulations has cost him his life,” Ongchuan said in a statement.

There are two kinds of blades used in Philippine cockfighting: single-edged blades and double-edged blades, and the length of the blades also varies. All blades are attached to the left leg of the bird, but depending on the agreement between owners, blades can be attached on the right or even on both legs. The country has hosted several World Slasher Cup derbies, held biannually at the Smart Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City. World Slasher Cup is also known as the “Olympics of Cockfighting”. The World Gamefowl Expo 2014 was held in the World Trade Center Metro Manila.

While this may sound like a freak accident, it is actually more common than most people think. Earlier this year, a man in India lost his life under very similar circumstances. In that case, the man was killed by his own 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. 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.