The House Agriculture and Rural Development Committee recently met to discuss two bills dealing with dogfighting and the Indiana State Fair.
Senator Jean Leising, R-Oldenburg, co-authored Senate Bill 423, which marginally covers cockfighting and pitbull fighting, something Leising said she had only ever heard about in movies.
The genesis of the bill came after the Indiana Gaming Commission brought the issue to Leising. Dennis Mullen, the general counsel for the commission, came to testify in support of the bill.
Typically, Mullen said the care costs for an animal put through fighting must be footed by the Indiana Humane Society or other animal organizations. The bill pushes to instead include these costs in the bail amount for those convicted of fighting animals.
Though not discussed all that often, Mullen said it is a real issue.
“Animal fighting is a very prevalent problem in the United States still today,” Mullen said. “The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates that as many as 150,000 people own game fowl, and as many as 24 million birds may be involved in such operations in the U.S. alone.”
Source:reporter.net
Categories: Indiana, Government & Policy