A FISH trader tagged as the “Chicken Killer” is wanted no more.
Rustom Aviles Sr., 52, was arrested in his house in Sitio Lahug, Barangay Antipolo in the northern town of Medellin, Cebu, at 7:45 a.m. on Wednesday, October 26, 2022, by virtue of a warrant issued by Municipal Circuit Trial Court Judge Hyacinth on September 14.
Aviles is charged with violating Section 6 of Republic Act (RA) 8485, or the Animal Welfare Act of 1998,
Bail was set at P3,000.
According to Senior Master Sergeant Raymon Pepito, investigator of the Medellin Police Station, Danilo Noynay, a fisherman, filed the case against Aviles.
Aviles allegedly beat one of his fighting roosters to death with a pipe and maimed two others.
The incident allegedly took place in Purok Sambag, Barangay Antipolo in the same town on the night of August 6.
Aviles was reportedly very drunk.
Noynay had told authorities his fighting roosters each cost P5,000.
"Nagtripingan daw ni niyang ang mga manok tungod sa kahubog! Napisat ang ulo sa hiniktan nga lakton, nabalian ang duha ka puwa nga hiniktan," Pepito said.
(The accused took out his frustrations on the chickens because he was so drunk. The head of one of the roosters was crushed. The two others survived the attack but they suffered broken bones.)
Pepito said Aviles and Noynay were not even fighting.
He said Noynay lodged a complaint against Aviles in the barangay, but the matter wasn’t settled because the latter refused to pay for roosters.
“The accused reportedly said the chickens were more expensive than the lawyer,” Pepito said in Cebuano.
The barangay captain issued a certificate to file action for malicious mischief against Aviles. Noynay went to the station where police helped him file the case since they believed Aviles’ actions violated RA 8485, Pepito said.
"What the trader did was cruel. The rooster’s head was crushed because of his relentless beating. Plus, he also confessed that it was his fault,” Pepito said in Cebuano.
Aviles was released around 1 p.m. on Wednesday after he posted bail.
Pepito said this should serve as a lesson to others that cruelty to animals is a crime under the law.