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A 38-year-old man has been charged with being high on methamphetamine, owning a stash of sharp cockfighting ankle spikes, and skinning a bobcat before he ate it.
Santa Clara County Deputy District Attorney Steve Lowney said Henry Arnibal stated that he had eaten the bobcat after he was arrested Nov. 7 on Sleepy Valley Road in unincorporated Morgan Hill. Arnibal told authorities that the large feline had eaten five of his roosters, according to Lowney. He killed it with a .22-caliber rifle, authorities allege.
Lowney said it is not illegal to eat a bobcat, but it is illegal to kill one without the proper permit, which he did not have.
All the charges, filed Monday, are fish and game violations, except for the penal drug charge. All are misdemeanors.
Arnibal was released on his own recognizance last week, and is scheduled to face charges in court on Nov. 22. Court records indicate he had no priors in Santa Clara County. He was unable to be reached for immediate comment.
Last week, Santa Clara County sheriff's deputies were looking for a marijuana farm in that area, because there had been one there a year back, Lowney said. When deputies went to investigate, they found it was only shrubs that had grown back. But it was then that authorities say they found Arnibal living in a trailer on the property and using crank. There were 50 roosters also found there, which deputies alleged were being raised to cockfight, perhaps in the Philippines.
But Lowney said there wasn't enough evidence to prove that. The roosters were taken away by animal control authorities. Also taken into evidence, Lowney said, were cockfighting gaffs, which are sharp hooks that attach to roosters legs for illegal fighting, along with the preserved carcass of the bobcat.
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