EAST PALO ALTO -- A person with prior convictions involving cockfighting was arrested Wednesday during a raid on an East Palo Alto residence by the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and Peninsula Humane Society.

Animal control Sgt. Steve Frias reported this afternoon that the suspect was arrested during a raid on a home at 898 Bell St. after SPCA and Peninsula Humane Society officers confiscated at least two game cocks allegedly used in cockfights.

The home was raided as part of an ongoing investigation, Frias reported.

Officers also located other items allegedly used in cockfights.

Among the items seized were "slashers" or blades attached to the birds' feet for the fight and saws allegedly used to cut off the birds' spurs. Frias explained that a cockfighting bird's natural spurs are sawn off and replaced by slashers to make the animal more lethal during a fight.

Also seized were scales to weigh the birds, and antibiotics and syringes to treat injured birds without alerting a veterinarian.

Frias said the Peninsula Humane Society suspects the residence was being used to raise the cocks, which fought somewhere in Fresno. Hens and other chickens were seized in the raid but were not used in cockfights, according to Frias, who said the fighting birds are distinguished by their scars and lack of spurs.

The suspect is facing misdemeanor animal cruelty charges, Frias said.

Cockfighting, which pits two male chickens in a fight to the death, is legal only in New Mexico and Louisiana. Legislators in Oklahoma, where cockfighting was banned in 2002, will begin debating Monday a proposal to legalize it if the birds wear miniature boxing gloves.