TOPICS:
- Legal: Health: Animal
Fighting Bill introduced into the Congress
January 4, 2007
Animal
Fighting Bill introduced into the Congress
January 4, 2007
On the opening day of the 110th
Congress, lawmakers signaled their commitment to animal
protection by introducing a bill that would make animal
fighting a felony punishable by up to three years in prison.
The bill, introduced by Reps.
Elton Gallegly, R-Calif., Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., and Roscoe
Bartlett, R-Md., would make it a felony to transport an animal
across state or international borders for animal fighting.
Additionally, it would prohibit the interstate and foreign
commerce in knives and gaffs designed for use in cockfighting.
The Animal Fighting Prohibition
Enforcement Act enjoys overwhelming support on Capitol Hill.
Introduced in the last Congress by Rep. Mark Green, R-Wisc.,
the legislation gained 324 cosponsors (about three-quarters of
the House and more than nearly any other pending bill).
A Senate version of the measure passed the upper chamber
unanimously early in the 109th Congress, and is expected to be
reintroduced by Sens. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., and John
Ensign, R-Nev., next week.
The bill introduced on the first
day of the new Congress shows increased awareness of the
seriousness of the crime of animal fighting because it allows
up to three years of jail time rather than up to two years, as
the bill debated in the last Congress allowed.
You can signal your support of
this effort by telling your Representative to end animal
fighting HERE.
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