Authorities arrested a second suspect Wednesday in connection with a suspected cockfighting operation on a 10-acre property in Southwest Miami-Dade, according to a Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office arrest report.
Sergio Ruiz-Osorio, 54, was taken into custody after investigators found more animals living in severely neglected conditions. The property sits near Southwest 51st Street and 122nd Avenue. Days earlier, deputies arrested Carlos Rafael Lezcano, 52, in the same investigation.
Authorities first found thousands of roosters and suspected cockfighting equipment on the site. During a search of another section of the property on Wednesday, detectives counted about 125 roosters, 16 dogs, three cats, goats, turtles and various birds. Investigators said the animals appeared to have no access to food or drinking water.
Detectives reached Ruiz-Osorio through a phone number posted on a sign outside the property. He told investigators he was in Naples but would return, police said. He arrived later and was arrested without incident.
Miami-Dade Animal Services removed all of the animals. Ruiz-Osorio was booked into the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center and faces two felony charges: animal fighting and animal cruelty with intent to injure or kill.
