Rebollada Merino, Agustín MiguelBárcena Asensio, María CarmenBarreno San Antolín, LucíaPizarro Díaz, ManuelDomínguez Rodríguez, Lucas JoséRodríguez Bertos, Antonio Manuel2024-05-222024-05-222022-05-04Agustín Rebollada-Merino, Carmen Bárcena, Lucía Barreno, Manuel Pizarro-Díaz, Lucas Domínguez, Antonio Rodríguez-Bertos, Animal abuse in Spanish-breed fighting cocks (Gallus gallus domesticus), Forensic Science International: Animals and Environments, Volume 2, 2022, 100050, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fsiae.2022.100050.https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/1043312023 Acuerdos transformativos CRUECockfighting is illegal both in the European Union and the United States, although fighting cock husbandry and breed preservation are allowed. Here, we describe the pathological findings observed in the carcasses of two Spanish-breed fighting cocks submitted to our laboratory after an animal abuse-suspected death. The postmortem examination revealed these cocks may have been used for cockfighting (comb, ear lobes, wattles, and chest feather removal; and trimmed spurs). The severe extensive hemorrhages observed in the cervical region of both birds, affecting C1-C4 in bird No. 1 and C8-C11 in No. 2, suggested cervical dislocation in a non-professional manner. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of abuse in a Spanish-breed fighting cock. The aim of this paper is to contribute to the identification of animal abuse cases in avian species which may lead to successful prosecutions in Spain and elsewhere.engAttribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 Internationaljournal article2666-9374https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fsiae.2022.100050open access636.09Animal abuseCervical dislocationCockfightingFighting cockVeterinary forensicsVeterinary pathologyVeterinaria3109 Ciencias Veterinarias