Authorities in Hamblen County, Tennessee, raided a cockfight and cited 37 participants and spectators with cockfighting on April 2, the Knoxville News Sentinel reports.
Cockfighting is a misdemeanor in Tennessee.
Hamblen County sheriff’s deputies found about 30 living and at least 11 dead roosters at the scene. Some spectators at the Whitesburg, Tennessee, event were also charged with various other misdemeanors, including contributing to the delinquency of a minor. Several children were in attendance, the newspaper reports.
"The sad thing is, [participants] don't see what's wrong with it," Sheriff Esco Jarnagin told the Sentinel. "That's why it goes from generation to generation."
Jarnagin added that his office was still investigating the fighting ring.