A ROOSTER stabbed a man to death during a cockfight.
The bird, which had a knife strapped to its leg, stabbed Jose Luis Ochoa on the calf.
He was declared dead in hospital two hours later.
A post mortem showed Ochoa, 35, was killed by a "sharp force injury" to his leg during the illegal cockfight in Tulare County, California.
Sheriff's spokesman Ray Pruitt said Ochoa may have been saved if he had got medical attention earlier.
Sergeant Martin King said the rooster could have slashed a main artery. He added: "People have been known to bleed out from those injuries if medical attention is not obtained immediately."
Police raided the cockfight after Ochoa was injured.
He and other spectators fled when officers arrived. They found five dead roosters at the scene. No arrests were made.
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Cockfighting is a sport in the US in which specially bred roosters are put into a ring and encouraged to fight until one is incapacitated or killed.
The birds have razor-like knives strapped to their legs.
According to Kern County Superior Court records, Ochoa paid £230 in fines last year after pleading no contest to one count of owning or training an animal for fighting.
Last month, a rooster slashed its owner's throat in India after he forced it into a fighting ring.