Marty
04-15-2006, 01:02 PM
Grove Hill,AL -- The Alabama Legislature has passed a law banning staged fights between dogs and wild hogs in the state.
The Alabama Senate voted 26-0 Thursday to make it a crime to stage, promote, attend or supply animals for hog-dog fights. The bill, which passed the House in February, now goes to Gov. Bob Riley for signing into law.
The bill was sponsored by State Rep. Thomas Jackson, D-Thomasville, and was a response to hog-dog fights that was publicized in southwest Alabama, including ones in the Coffeeville area and in Escambia County.
John P. Goodwin, deputy manager of the Humane Society of the United States, said Alabama joins Louisiana and Mississippi in passing laws to try to stop the events. He said the events have been found primarily in an area stretching from southeast Louisiana across south Mississippi into southwest Alabama.
Mississippi outlawed the practice in this year's legislative session and Gov. Haley Barbour has signed the measure into law.
The legislation makes a first offense a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail. A second offense would be a felony, punishable by one to 10 years in prison.
The events, often called "hog-dog rodeos," involve putting a trained attack dog, usually a pit bull or American bulldog, in an enclosed ring with a wild hog. The dog chases down the hog and grabs its ear or another body part while spectators watch. Over the course of one event or rodeo, 50 dogs or more will be put in the ring with hogs and the dog with the best time at catching the hog wins.
The legislation "stops a barbaric form on animal cruelty," Goodwin said.
It does not affect legitimate hunting, he said.
http://www.clarkecountydemocrat.com/news/2006/0414/Front_Page/003.html
The Alabama Senate voted 26-0 Thursday to make it a crime to stage, promote, attend or supply animals for hog-dog fights. The bill, which passed the House in February, now goes to Gov. Bob Riley for signing into law.
The bill was sponsored by State Rep. Thomas Jackson, D-Thomasville, and was a response to hog-dog fights that was publicized in southwest Alabama, including ones in the Coffeeville area and in Escambia County.
John P. Goodwin, deputy manager of the Humane Society of the United States, said Alabama joins Louisiana and Mississippi in passing laws to try to stop the events. He said the events have been found primarily in an area stretching from southeast Louisiana across south Mississippi into southwest Alabama.
Mississippi outlawed the practice in this year's legislative session and Gov. Haley Barbour has signed the measure into law.
The legislation makes a first offense a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail. A second offense would be a felony, punishable by one to 10 years in prison.
The events, often called "hog-dog rodeos," involve putting a trained attack dog, usually a pit bull or American bulldog, in an enclosed ring with a wild hog. The dog chases down the hog and grabs its ear or another body part while spectators watch. Over the course of one event or rodeo, 50 dogs or more will be put in the ring with hogs and the dog with the best time at catching the hog wins.
The legislation "stops a barbaric form on animal cruelty," Goodwin said.
It does not affect legitimate hunting, he said.
http://www.clarkecountydemocrat.com/news/2006/0414/Front_Page/003.html