Patrick Leahy: “This bill has broad bipartisan support with more than 300 co-sponsors in the House. The companion Senate bill is S. 261.…”

“This bill has broad bipartisan support with more than 300 co-sponsors in the House. The companion Senate bill is S. 261. The lead Senate sponsor is Senator Cantwell. There are 30 Senate cosponsors. The Senate Judiciary Committee considered and voted to report the bill favorably on March 8, 2007, and the Senate bill is on the Senate Business Calendar. The legislation in similar forms has passed one or both Houses of Congress several times. The bill also has strong endorsements ranging from the American Veterinary Medical Association to the poultry industry to hundreds of law enforcement groups nationwide. The bill has been endorsed by the United States Department of Agriculture, the Humane Society of the United States, and numerous other animal rights and law enforcement groups, including more than 400 police departments. This bill contains a clarifying amendment like the one we adopted in the Senate Judiciary Committee to ensure that it does not affect legitimate hunting activities. Animal fighting is cruel. In this spectacle, dogs and roosters are often drugged to make them hyper-aggressive and forced to keep fighting even after suffering severe injuries. The animals are enclosed in a pit that they cannot escape, and often are killed during the fights. Animal fighting also spawns other criminal conduct, and endangers public safety. Animal fighting is often associated with illegal gambling, narcotics trafficking, public corruption, and gang activity.”