A San Miguel County man faces a felony charge that he sponsored cockfights for money on his property in Rowe.

State police arrested Alejandro Gonzales, 43, after receiving a tip from someone in Pecos and finding "more than two dozen agitated chickens, a fighting pit and some dead roosters at his residence," police said in a statement Monday.

Officers also issued citations to 13 other people for "being present at a rooster fight without attempting to interfere or stop the contest," according to the statement. Police are also investigating gambling associated with the operation.

Heather Ferguson, legislative director of the nonprofit Animal Protection New Mexico and coordinator of the Attorney General's Animal Cruelty Taskforce, said Gonzales is one of dozens arrested in 20 separate raids around New Mexico since a statewide ban on cockfighting was adopted in 2007.

One of the first raids, in December 2007, resulted in the closure of The Socorro Gentleman's Club, the Otero Game Club and the Legion Club in Jal — three major arenas that each had seating for several hundred spectators, Ferguson said.

While the practice already was illegal in Santa Fe and various other local jurisdictions, in March 2007 New Mexico became the second-to-last state to outlaw cockfighting. Louisiana, the last state do to so, followed suit in April of the same year.

New Mexico law classifies first and second convictions for cockfighting as misdemeanors that carry penalties of up to 180 days in jail and/or a $500 fine, and third and subsequent offenses as fourth-degree felonies.

In cases where animals die, however, prosecutors have pursued felony charges of extreme animal cruelty, Ferguson said.

Otero Game Club owner Renee Anton, the only person convicted under the 2007 law, has not yet been sentenced.

The New Mexico Game Fowl Breeders Association filed a complaint in U.S. District Court in May alleging the law violates constitutional protections related to due process, probable cause and takings of property.

The complaint alleges "threat of imminent injury resulting from the actual and continuing destruction of hundreds of their game fowl, which effectively destroys years of genetic lines and the unreasonable investigation, interrogations and entering of private property to take private animals and other private property."

Ferguson said animals bred for cockfighting have usually been injected with steroids and antibiotics banned by the Food and Drug Administration, which make the birds unsuitable for adopting out to new owners. She said most are "humanely euthanized by a forensic veterinarian on site."

Contact Phaedra Haywood at 986-3068 or phaywood@sfnewmexican.com.