Purpose: This bill amends the Animal Welfare Act to increase the imprisonment penalty for animal fighting violations from one year to two years. The bill prohibits the sale, purchase, transportation, or delivery in interstate or foreign commerce of any knife, gaff, or other sharp instrument used in a bird-fighting venture. In addition, this bill revises enforcement provisions, permits euthanasia for a fighting animal in extreme pain, and includes the Internet or any technology as an interstate instrumentality.
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Status: Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary, Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security; and the House Committee on Agriculture, Subcommittee on Livestock and Horticulture. Subcommittee Hearings held.
Action: SUPPORT. Please contact your Congressperson and urge him/her to support H.R. 817. Ask your Congressperson to help protect animals from being used as participants in the vicious and inhumane “sport” of contest fighting.
Talking Points for your letter:
- H.R. 817 will authorize felony-level jail time for federal animal fighting violations and ban the interstate and foreign transport of cockfighting weapons.
- Animal fighting is not a sport; it is organized crime. Illegal gambling is the norm at animal fights. The animal owners and spectators wager thousands of dollars on their favorites. Firearms and other weapons have been found at animal fights due to the large amounts of cash present. In addition, illegal drugs are often sold and used at dogfights.
- Dogs used in these events often die of blood loss, shock, dehydration, exhaustion, or infection hours or even days after the fight. Some owners train their dogs for fights using smaller animals such as cats, rabbits, or small dogs. These “bait” animals are often stolen pets or animals obtained through “free to good home” advertisements.
- The presence of fighting dogs in a community increases the risk of attacks not only on other animals but also on people. Children are especially at risk, because their small size may cause a fighting dog to perceive a child as another animal.
- Contrary to popular myth, cockfighting is not an accidental or natural sparring of two roosters. Instead, cockfighting is a deliberately staged bloodsport in which two roosters are placed in an enclosed pit to fight. Roosters raised for fighting are specifically bred for their aggressiveness and they then are trained to fight. Their natural spurs are sawed off and replaced by razor-sharp steel blades or by curved metal spikes measuring up to 3 inches in length. During cockfights, the birds can suffer serious injuries, including broken wings or punctured lungs. The dead and dying birds are discarded in trash bins or alongside the road. If the birds survive the fights, they are stitched up to fight again. As a result, there is no real “victory” for fighting roosters.
- These activities have no place in our society.