LOVETTSVILLE, Va. -- Authorities seized about 500 chickens from two farms in Loudoun County as part of a cockfighting investigation.
No charges have been filed, but court records indicate that animal control officers found training mitts, trophies, magazines on cockfighting and other paraphernalia at the Lovettsville-area farms.
Loudoun County Commonwealth's Attorney James E. Plowman said he will decide later whether to bring charges.
If charges are brought, they would be the first in Virginia since a new law toughening the penalties for animal fighting passed in the wake of the of the Michael Vick dogfighting scandal.
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The chickens, mostly roosters, are technically in county custody but remain at the farms in question because the county has no space to take them in.
Copyright AP - Associated Press
