Investigators searching a 10-acre property in Southwest Miami-Dade say they found several thousand roosters, along with training rings and fighting equipment. FBI agents came across the suspected cockfighting operation while working an unrelated case, and Miami-Dade Sheriff's Office detectives followed up with a search warrant. The man charged, 52-year-old Carlos Rafael Lezcano, walked out of jail on bond the next night.

Lezcano faces felony charges of animal cruelty, animal fighting and tampering with physical evidence, plus a misdemeanor for resisting an officer. According to the arrest report, he and another man broke through a fence during the search to get to roosters Lezcano said belonged to him, then ran. The second man is still on the loose.

The roosters were not the only animals found in danger. Florida SPCA rescuers found a pony described as extremely emaciated, a second pony that needs surgery for its wounds, a dead goat, and two more goats so sick they might not survive. "They're very, very sick," said Laurie Waggoner, director of rescue operations for the Florida SPCA, speaking to CBS News Miami.

Cases like this one only stop the cruelty if they end in real consequences. The Miami-Dade State Attorney's Office should pursue every charge to the fullest extent of the law. Judge Mindy Glazer should bar Lezcano from owning or having contact with any animals while the case moves forward. The Miami-Dade Sheriff's Office should keep searching for the second man and anyone else who bred, sold or bet on these birds. And the surviving animals should go to qualified rescues for permanent care, not sit in limbo through a long trial.

Sign the petition to demand full accountability in Miami-Dade, before more animals suffer for a fighting ring.