Blackpool man sentenced after cockerels found being kept for fighting
Fighting pits and chickens in poor conditions were found at a stable yard in Lytham St Annes
A man has been sentenced after fifty-two chickens were found being kept in poor conditions, including cockerels being used for fighting.
32-year-old Henry John Beaney, of Bridge House Road, Blackpool, appeared at Preston Magistrates' Court on Wednesday 7th October, where he was sentenced to an 18-month community order with a probation requirement, and ordered to complete 140 hours of unpaid work.
He was also ordered to pay 450 pounds in costs, disqualified from keeping birds for seven years, and must pay a 114 pound victim surcharge.
Beaney had previously pleaded guilty to four offences under the Animal Welfare Act, including failing to meet the needs of 27 cockerels and 25 hens, and one offence of keeping cockerels for fighting, according to the RSPCA.
What was found at the scene
Officers from the RSPCA's Special Operations Unit joined Lancashire Police as they carried out a warrant at a stable yard in Lytham St Annes on 12th May 2025, where they found a large set-up for keeping birds with links to cockfighting, the RSPCA said.
A large L-shaped structure of makeshift runs for birds was found, while other birds, including hens with eggs, were kept in smaller pens and dog crates described by the RSPCA as filthy and rusty.
Officers removed all 27 cockerels, leaving the hens in place with instructions for improving welfare standards so as not to disturb unhatched eggs, the RSPCA said.
Two fighting pits were also found, one inside a stable and another underneath a metal roof.
RSPCA Special Operations Unit Chief Inspector Will Mitchell said, in his court statement: "Police located a shelter which had been penned with boarding approximately two to three feet high. From my experience this appeared to me to be an animal fighting pit.
"One stable was covered in feathers and I could see that there was spatter on the walls which looked like blood," Chief Inspector Mitchell said.
The RSPCA said tests on the blood showed it to be cockerel blood, and the body of a dead cockerel was also found at the site.
Many of the birds had been dubbed, a process in which their combs and wattles are cut off, which the RSPCA said is often seen in fighting birds.
Supplements and medication used to enhance performance in the fighting ring were also removed from the scene, according to the RSPCA.
A phone and iPad removed from the scene were analysed by experts, who recovered messages relating to the use of these supplements, as well as the buying and selling of "gaffs" - knives or blades that can be attached to a cockerel's spurs during fights to inflict more damage, the RSPCA said.
Condition of the birds
A vet who attended the scene to assess the birds found they had not been provided with suitable perching or clean pens, and said the accommodation was too small, according to the RSPCA.
Some birds were suffering from lice, and one cockerel had lesions on his feet which had not been appropriately treated, the RSPCA said.