JOHNSON COUNTY, Kan. -- Authorities arrested two men in an alleged cockfighting operation in rural western Johnson County.

The Johnson County Sheriff's Department said deputies confiscated more than 170 fighting roosters and a large sum of cash while executing a search warrant at a home about eight miles west of Olathe.

The birds started show up on the property 2 and a half years ago and some nights, as many as 80 people were on the property, a neighbor said.

"Some people will argue the point and say that a chicken is a stupid animal and doesn't have that much filling and everything else. Well they aren't very smart, but they do have feeling," Chester Smith said. "It tortures them. I mean, they suffer. It's a cruel death."

The two men who were arrested had not yet been charged by Wednesday evening.

The Sheriff's Department said representatives from eight other agencies, including the Humane Society, are assisting with the investigation.