SNOHOMISH – A Snohomish man is being sued by 14 of his neighbors who allege that dozens of roosters are being trained to fight each other at his farm.
The lawsuit filed in Snohomish County Superior Court accuses Robert Thompson of allowing illegal cockfights on his property.
Thompson strongly disputed the allegations in a letter to the neighbors’ lawyer, saying the roosters are being raised for legal uses.
Snohomish County animal control officers confirmed that this week, Snohomish County sheriff’s spokeswoman Jan Jorgensen said.
“There’s nothing to suggest cockfighting is taking place or that roosters are being trained for cockfighting,” Jorgensen said.
Officers searched the grounds three times, including Wednesday, she said. Cockfighting and training roosters to fight is illegal in Washington state.
Most of the roosters are being exported to the Philippines and other countries where they’re exhibited, according to Thompson’s letter.
Thompson said Wednesday that he doesn’t allow animals to fight on his property, but said some sparring was done in a June exhibition.
“Some sparring was done for selection purposes only,” he wrote. “I condoned this process, as it is more like a tryout for athletes in the league.”
Moreover, Thompson said he’s not raising the roosters. They belong to a family that’s renting the property, he said.
“We’re in a farmland, and it’s legal to have it. We’ve answered every bit of the complaint,” he said.
But neighbors say they’re concerned about the roosters’ welfare and are fed up with the noise.
“This summer was agonizing listening to them all the time,” neighbor Charles Dean said. “I didn’t buy this place 27 years ago to be in the middle of a chicken screaming contest.”
Neighbors claim that there’s more than 100 roosters on Thompson’s property and that they crow from as early as 2:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m.
Thompson told the neighbors who filed the lawsuit last week that he’s taking steps to reduce the noise, including moving the roosters further away from the neighbors.
Animal control officers did not hear excessive noise, Jorgensen said. They usually crow when they’re fed and when neighbors’ dogs are nearby, she said.
Reporter Katherine Schiffner: 425-339-3436 or schiffner@heraldnet.com.
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