Tell Congress to Enact Tougher Penalties for Animal Fighting

this is a bi-partisan bill that has been sent to committee, Kennedy and Feingold are co-sponsoring, any interested parties please click on "action alert" to send message to your congress people.

"Exactly how cruel and gruesome is animal fighting?

In dogfights, canines are forced to fight, tearing at each other sometimes for hours, before a "winner" is declared. Cockfighters strap razor-sharp knives or ice pick-like "gaffes" to roosters' legs. Animals are pumped full of drugs to heighten aggression and goaded to keep fighting even after suffering grave injuries such as punctured lungs and gouged eyes.

Senator John Ensign (R-NV) and Representative Mark Green (R-WI) have introduced the Animal Fighting Prohibition Enforcement Act (S. 382/H.R. 817) to combat these blood sports. The act will strengthen current federal law by authorizing felony-level jail time for the interstate and foreign movement of animals used for fighting as well as ban interstate and foreign commerce of the barbaric weapons used in cockfights."

click on action alert to take action.

http://www.hsus.org/legislation_laws/federal_legislation/cruelty_issues/

SUMMARY AS OF:
2/15/2005--Introduced.

Animal Fighting Prohibition Enforcement Act of 2005 - Amends the Federal criminal code to prohibit: (1) sponsoring or exhibiting a bird in a fighting venture in a State where it would not otherwise be in violation of the law, only if the person knew that any bird in the venture was knowingly bought, sold, delivered, transported, or received in interstate or foreign commerce for such purpose; or (2) knowingly sponsoring or exhibiting in an animal fighting venture any other animal that was moved in interstate or foreign commerce.

Prohibits knowingly: (1) selling, buying, transporting, delivering, or receiving, for purposes of transportation in interstate or foreign commerce, any dog or other animal to participate in an animal fighting venture; (2) using interstate mail service for commercial speech promoting an animal fighting venture except as performed outside the limits of the States (with an exception for bird fights in States whose laws allow them); or (3) selling, buying, transporting, or delivering in interstate or foreign commerce a knife, gaff, or other sharp instrument to be attached to the leg of a bird for use in an animal fighting venture.

Sets penalties of a fine under the code, two years' imprisonment, or both for violations of this Act. (Repeals conflicting provisions of the Animal Welfare Act.)

COSPONSORS(21), ALPHABETICAL : (Sort: by date)
Sen Baucus, Max - 3/14/2005 Sen Cantwell, Maria - 2/15/2005
Sen Collins, Susan M. - 2/17/2005 Sen Dayton, Mark - 3/1/2005
Sen DeWine, Mike - 2/15/2005 Sen Durbin, Richard - 2/17/2005
Sen Feingold, Russell D. - 3/2/2005 Sen Feinstein, Dianne - 2/15/2005
Sen Hagel, Chuck - 3/1/2005 Sen Harkin, Tom - 3/10/2005
Sen Johnson, Tim - 2/28/2005 Sen Kennedy, Edward M. - 2/15/2005
Sen Kohl, Herb - 2/15/2005 Sen Kyl, Jon - 2/15/2005
Sen Lautenberg, Frank R. - 2/28/2005 Sen Leahy, Patrick J. - 2/15/2005
Sen Lugar, Richard G. - 2/15/2005 Sen Murray, Patty - 4/4/2005
Sen Santorum, Rick - 2/15/2005 Sen Specter, Arlen - 2/15/2005
Sen Vitter, David - 2/15/2005



http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d109:SN00382:@@@L&summ2=m&