Two charged in Franklin County cockfighting ring

Deputies seized 120 chickens, a malnourished horse and dog, two firearms and about 25 grams of cocaine from a home on Lynyrd Lane near N.C. Highway 64.  The animals were taken to the Franklin County Animal Shelter.

"The horse looked bad," said neighbor D.J. Carlyle. "You could see the ribs and everything."

The homeowner, Jose Angel Prudente Rodriguez, was charged with felony possession of cocaine, maintaining a dwelling for the use of controlled substances and cockfighting. He may also face animal cruelty and federal weapons charges, authorities said.

Eugenio Rodriguez was charged with cockfighting.

Both men were placed in the Franklin County jail. Jose Rodriguez was being held under an immigration detainer and a $50,000 bond. 

Carlyle's father, David Carlyle, said it's not unusual to see hundreds of roosters near the house. 

"One day, two of them did get loose," he said. "I got my son to run up there and tell him two of them got loose. By the time he got to them, they had killed each other."

He said he never saw any evidence of cockfighting, but had his suspicions.

"You could hear roosters all the time, day and night," David Carlyle said. "Sometimes there'd be a van load come in, almost like a bus."