A 29-year-old man is facing 11 felony charges after Chicago police say they found a rooster missing its comb, wattle and spurs stashed inside a Lawndale workplace, evidence investigators tied to an illegal cockfighting operation. Ezequiel Carillo Nava was taken into custody Thursday following a month-long investigation by the Chicago Police Department's Animal Crimes Investigation Team.
According to a statement from the Chicago Police Department, the probe began after an anonymous tip came into the department in early August. That tip led investigators to a business in the 4000 block of West Roosevelt Road in Lawndale, where Carillo Nava allegedly kept roosters on site. Officers say they gathered both digital and physical evidence linking him to the ring over the following weeks.
The case broke open during a joint business inspection on August 27, when members of CPD's Animal Crimes Investigation Team, the department's Vice Section, the city's Business Affairs and Consumer Protection department, and the Department of Buildings descended on the Roosevelt Road address together. Investigators determined the business was operating without a valid license. Inside, officers located a rooster with its comb, wattle and spurs removed, a mutilation known as dubbing, before transferring the bird to Chicago Animal Care and Control.
What the Missing Comb and Wattle Signal to Investigators
Dubbing is not a cosmetic accident. According to the Animal Legal Defense Fund, breeders routinely remove a rooster's comb and wattle to minimize blood loss during fights and to allow handlers to attach sharp artificial gaffs to the bird's legs. The procedure is typically performed without anesthesia or professional veterinary care, and the group notes it serves as a telltale sign that a bird has been prepared for organized fighting rather than kept as ordinary livestock or a pet.
That detail, paired with metal gaffs that the Animal Crimes Investigation Team recovered from the property, formed key physical evidence behind the felony charges. Carillo Nava was charged with four felony counts of animal torture, two felony counts of aggravated cruelty to animals, four felony counts of owning an animal for sport fighting, and one felony count of selling equipment for animal fighting.
What Illinois Law Says About Torture and Fighting Equipment
Under Section 3.03 of the Illinois Humane Care for Animals Act, animal torture is defined as knowingly or intentionally inflicting extreme physical pain with intent to prolong an animal's suffering, according to the Law Office of Purav Bhatt. That charge is a Class 3 felony carrying a sentence of two to five years in prison, along with a mandatory psychological evaluation upon conviction. The same law firm's analysis notes that aggravated cruelty to animals, defined under Section 3.02 as intentionally causing serious physical injury or death, is a Class 4 felony punishable by one to three years for a first offense, though repeat convictions escalate the charge to a Class 3 felony.
Separately, Section 4.01 of the Humane Care for Animals Act explicitly bans owning, breeding, capturing or selling specialized equipment used for cockfighting and other non-dog animal fighting exhibitions, per the Illinois General Assembly's statutory text. The law also carves out a distinct enforcement mechanism: under Section 4.01(k), licensed veterinarians are legally required to report any animal presented with injuries suggesting involvement in fighting, and those who report in good faith receive civil and criminal immunity, according to FindLaw.
Cockfighting is currently classified as a felony in Illinois and roughly 40 other states, though gamefowl industry groups have lobbied elsewhere to reduce penalties to misdemeanors, NPR Illinois has reported. The Cook County State's Attorney's Office coordinated directly with the Chicago Police Department on the charges against Carillo Nava, according to the department's statement.
A Pattern Across the Chicago Area
This is not the first cockfighting bust in the region this year. In April, suburban police in Joliet dismantled a backyard cockfighting ring during a drug raid, rescuing 29 animals including roosters with altered spurs and charging two men with multiple felony counts of animal torture and entertainment violations, as Hoodline previously reported. Chicago's own animal control agency has handled far larger seizures before: in May 2019, the department took custody of more than 120 roosters rescued from a single illegal cockfighting ring in the city, relying on animal sanctuaries to rehome the surviving birds.
The Chicago Police Department's Animal Crimes Investigation Team has also pursued other severe animal harm cases recently. In June 2025, the unit arrested a minor on felony animal cruelty charges, reflecting its broader mandate to investigate serious animal abuse across the city.
Investigators say the cockfighting ring investigation tied to Carillo Nava remains ongoing. It is not yet clear how many animals beyond the single rooster seized on August 27 were involved in the alleged operation, whether the Roosevelt Road business functioned as an active fighting venue or primarily as an equipment and breeding site, or whether additional participants could face charges.
