Earl Blumenauer: “I find that this is extraordinarily elusive. And the reason it is elusive, and the reason that animal fighting continues…”

“I find that this is extraordinarily elusive. And the reason it is elusive, and the reason that animal fighting continues in this country to be a problem, is because Congress does not step forward to stop it. There are, make no mistake about it, lobbyists here for illegal game-fighting birds, for example, who ply their trade here behind closed doors in Congress, and who have successfully fought to keep the criminal provisions as low as they can so that they can use the excuse, when the issue comes forward, well, we really cannot enforce it because the penalty provisions are not strong enough. It is time for us to say enough to illegal animal fighting for dogs and game birds.”