While most of the alleged Shelton “finch fighters” tentatively wrapped up their court cases this week, the case for the man who allegedly hosted the death matches is still working its way through court.
Jurames Goulart, who owns the Ripton Avenue home where the police say the finch fighting ring was centered, appeared in Superior Court in Derby briefly Thursday.
His attorney, John Gulash of Bridgeport, asked the judge for more time to prepare information the state’s attorney’s office had requested.
Goulart, who is free on a $10,000 bond, was scheduled to be back in court Nov. 5.
Goulart was one of 19 men arrested July 26, when Shelton police conducted a raid and found about 150 finches and cash at Goulart’s Ripton Road home. Police said they had been tipped off about a bird-fighting ring that often held fights there, and said when they arrived at the house that Sunday morning, there was a fight about to begin.
Most of the men were arrested for animal cruelty and gambling charges. This week, most were granted accelerated rehabilitation, a special form of probation that wipes clean their records if they successfully complete a court program.
Goulart had not applied for that program. He faces the animal cruelty and gambling charges, as well as a charge for resisting arrest from the day of the raid.
In their search warrant for the home where the fights were allegedly taking place, police described a gruesome practice:
Witnesses told police that a large group of men gathered at the home for bird fights, arriving before dawn. Before the fights, the men would buy and sell the birds, and they would “party” at the house afterward, according to a search warrant.
According to that warrant, Goulart kept and trained about 60 birds at the home. He would allegedly kill birds that became injured during the fights.
Witnesses told police the birds were trained to fight, and were given medications and antibiotics to keep them strong. Police described the birds as “killing machines for people’s entertainment.”
The birds were cared for by an animal shelter until they were found new homes at zoos outside of Connecticut.
