'Operation Angry Birds' Swoops In On Massive Cockfighting Circuit

New York police busted the largest known cockfighting circuit in state history, the attorney general announced on Sunday.

NBC News reports that more than 70 people have been arrested and as many as 3,000 birds rescued in a sting operation dubbed ‘Operation Angry Birds.’

Investigators raided a breeding farm in upstate New York, a cockfighting venue in Queens and a Brooklyn pet shop, where they found birds stuffed in cramped cages and being “bred, trained and altered for fighting.”

“Cockfighting is a cruel, abusive and barbaric practice that tortures animals, endangers the health and safety of the public and is known to facilitate other crimes,” said Attorney General Eric Schneiderman.

[NBC News]

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