WV: Animal cruelty bill clears Senate; ASPCA ecstatic

Published: February 10, 2010 01:37 pm
Animal cruelty bill clears Senate; ASPCA ecstatic
By Mannix Porterfield
Register-Herald Reporter

CHARLESTON — Making animal bloodsports felony crimes in West Virginia easily cleared the Senate Wednesday to the delight of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

Only Sen. John Pat Fanning, D-McDowell, voted against the bill sponsored solely by Judiciary Chairman Jeffrey Kessler, D-Marshall.

Kessler wants to impose severe felony punishment on those who organize and sponsor any type of animal combat — from dogs to roosters and any others in between.

The bill now goes to the House of Delegates, which has let such legislation die without taking it up in committee.

“We totally support it,” observed Ann Church, senior director of government relations for the ASPCA in the Southeast region.

“We’ve been working for this kind of legislation throughout the country for a long time. Animal fighting is terribly cruel. It’s a barbaric sport. But it’s also something that is very deliberate. It’s not just something that kind of happens accidentally.”

For several years, some lawmakers have sought to crack down on animal fighting, but efforts generally have focused on cockfighting.

After the celebrated dogfighting case that put Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Michael Vick in a federal doghouse, attention began to widen in the West Virginia Legislature so that the latest proposal embraces all forms of animal slugfests.

From her McLean, Va., office, Church said animal fighting entails “a lot of premeditation attached to it and secrecy surrounding it,” along with huge sums of money, and drugs fed to animals to put them in the mood to fight one another.

“There’s a lot you see at the actual fights, but there’s a lot leading to it,” she said.

Law enforcement are forced to spend large sums of money and invest many manhours given the need to seize animals and investigate large crowds that turn out for such clandestine events, the ASPCA said.

“It’s a huge undertaking,” Church said.

“It’s worth not their time to do it, if they’re only going to be minor offenses with very small penalties.”

Often, she said, police find spectators who are the subjects of outstanding warrants.

“Those are good places for law enforcement to find people they’re looking for a number of reasons,” the ASPCA leader said.

Church voiced concern that children are escorted to animal fights, often the scene of drug activity, illegal firearms and gambling.

“They’re just not very nice situations to have anyone in, let alone a child,” she said.

“We think it’s something that does need to be stopped and closed down.”

All states have laws making dogfighting a felony. Cockfighting is a felony in 39 states and 20 states consider mere attendance at a cockfight a felony offense.

Moreover, the animal has no choice when thrown into a ring, especially with roosters, who are armed with razors to slash opponents, Church pointed out.

“They are constantly pumping those animals back up so those derbys can go on for hours and hours,” she said.

“Afterward, if they survive, they throw an animal into a bucket and let him die a slow death.”

And more often than not, the disabled animal isn’t going to get the services of a qualified veterinarian, she pointed out.

“I can usually see both sides to everything,” Church said. “On this, I just don’t know how you could enjoy that.

“They’ll say, ‘Well, animals fight anyway.’ Kids fight, but that doesn’t mean you put razor blades on them and that makes a good fight. It’s terribly cruel.”

The Register-Herald, Beckley, West Virginia - Animal cruelty bill clears Senate; ASPCA ecstatic