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Police officer killed by rooster during illegal cockfight raid

A police lieutenant has been killed in the line of duty by a rooster, while trying to break up an illegal cockfight.

On October 26, Lieutenant Christian Bolok died after breaking up a cockfight in San Jose, Phillipines when when one rooster’s gaffs — small steel blades attached to its legs — cut a gaping wound on his left leg and hit his femoral artery, provincial Governor Edwin Ongchuan said.

According to the Northern Samar Provincial Information Office, Bolok sustained the fatal injury to his femoral artery, in his leg.

Pictured is Lieutenant Christian Bolok the man killed breaking up a cockfight in the Philippines
Lieutenant Christian Bolok was killed by a rooster, while trying to break up an illegal cockfight. Source: Facebook/Northern Samar Police Provincial Office

Bolok was rushed to hospital, however due to the heavy blood loss, he was pronounced dead upon arrival.

Speaking to the Associated Press, the governor alleged the gaff may have been laced with poison.

Governor Ongchuan added that Bolok or his companions tried to slow the blood loss by tying a cloth tightly around his leg as a tourniquet but may have applied it in the wrong spot.

“We grieve with our Provincial PNP in the loss of such a committed and selfless officer whose enforcement of our community quarantine regulations has cost him his life,” Governor Ongchuan said in a statement.

The provincial government has given Bolok’s family financial support roughly equal to $A1400.

Police in the central province have been cracking down on illegal cockfights, as the gatherings have been blamed for helping spread the coronavirus.

Two roosters seen fighting in a breeding farm in Jaen, Nueva Ecija province.
Cockfighting is common across the Philippines, thought it was banned to halt the spread of Covid-19. Source: Getty Images

Cockfighting is a popular pastime and gambling sport in the Philippines, illegal cockfights are referred to as ‘tupada’.

However, all cockfighting events, illegal or not, have been prohibited in a bid to slow the spread of Covid-19.

In August, cockfights were banned in the province by the governor, as they were linked to one source of Covid-19 transmission, the Northern Samar Provincial Information Office said on Facebook.

There have been more than 375,000 Covid infections in the Philippines, according to Johns Hopkins data and over 7100 deaths.

With Associated Press

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