Cockfighting may be legal in some parts of the world, but that isn’t the case in the US where the sport, if you can even call it that, is taboo in all 50 states.

But even with laws in place to protect these cocks, some people still find time to participate in it, much to the chagrin of those poor chickens.

That’s why local authorities in New York deemed it a huge success when it arrested nine people and rescued over 3,000 fighting roosters after busting a cockfighting ring that’s already being touted as the biggest ever uncovered in America.

The sting, appropriately dubbed “Operation Angry Birds”, targeted a gambling operation in Queens, New York after it was discovered that cockfights were being held in an apartment building in that borough twice a month since May. Officials simultaneously raided that building and saw 70 people attending a fight last Saturday, while also doing the same on a 90-acre (36-hectare) farm in Plattekill, New York, where thousands of roosters were being trained, and a pet shop in Brooklyn that sold fighting chickens.

“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,” New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said in a statement.

All in all, nine people were charged with felonies, which is punishable by up to four years behind bars. Schneiderman’s statement also paints an indicative picture of how illegal cockfighting rings also foster other crimes, including the selling of drugs to paying spectators. The sting operation in the said Brooklyn apartment showed as much, with the spectators paying admission and seat fees for those all-nighter fights, on top of the drugs that were also being sold in the location.

For the roosters and hens that ware confiscated, it’s a long road back to recovery to normalcy, something humane societies and animal rescue groups in seven states are currently helping with the shelter and transfer of the animals. The immediate objective is to foster a new environment for these chicken that’s free of violence. The hope is that these cocks can return to civility after getting exposed to indescribable pain and suffering brought about by people who essentially train them only to get slaughtered.

It’s a huge bust that should send shockwaves to all those illegal cockfighting rings still operating in the US these days. Make no mistake; this won’t be the last bust of its kind to happen in that part of the world.