Animal-Fighting Law Takes Federal Stage
Posted August 1, 2012 03:50 am
TALLAHASSEE, FL - Attending an animal fight has been a felony in Florida for nine years, but now there is a push in Washington to make it a federal offense to cross state lines to fight animals, and also to offer some consistency among the state laws.
Laura Bevan, the director of the Southern Region for the Humane Society of the United States, says the federal law will help protect Florida animals as well.
"You have to tackle it at the state level, but then
you have to look at the federal level and the fact that
people are crossing state lines for these fights."
Dog and cock fighting have been particularly common in
Florida in the past, although the strict state law has
discouraged such events from taking place in public
forums, says Bevans.
The U.S. House is expected to vote this week on a
one-year extension of the Farm Bill which would include
the law against animal-fight attendance.
The amendment to the Farm Bill would also specifically
prohibit bringing children to these events, which is
something the Florida law does not specifically make
illegal. Bevan says ending the practice of animal
fighting is part of a larger issue.
"It it hard to call ourselves civilized if we are
getting fun out of watching two animals tear each other
up. It doesn't say much about us as a society."
A three-year study by the Chicago Police Department
found that 70 percent of animal offenders had also been
arrested for other felonies, including domestic and
aggravated battery, drug trafficking and sex crimes.
Florida U.S. Representatives Steve Southerland of the
2nd District and Tom Rooney of the 16th district, both
Republicans, as members of the House Agriculture
Committee, voted against the inclusion of an amendment
that would strengthen animal-fighting laws.