Cockfighting bill looks to be stalled yet again in committee

Tennessee lawmakers are once again debating legislation to return cockfighting to a felony offense and to strengthen penalties for attending a cockfight. Last week, the sponsor of the bill sought to get the legislation to a floor vote by bypassing the state House Agriculture Committee, where efforts to stiffen penalties for cockfighting have stalled annually. It looked as if state Rep. Jon Lundberg, R-Bristol, might be successful in that regard until leaders of the ag committee demanded that they be given an opportunity to review the bill. We know what that means. So does Lundberg, who saw his bill moved back to the Agriculture Committee, where it will surely be killed again by lawmakers sympathetic to the cockfighting lobby.Tennessee has the weakest cockfighting laws in the nation and it doesn’t appear that will change any time soon. State legislators have routinely declined to get tough on cockfighting, even after hearing testimony from federal agents who say Tennessee is part of the infamous “Cockfighting Corridor,” where criminals who engage in this blood sport flock to ply their despicable trade.An FBI agent also told legislators a few years ago that the operator of a busted cockfighting pit in Cocke County boasted that he bribed a state lawmaker nearly 20 years ago to lower the penalty for cockfighting from a felony to a misdemeanor.As we’ve noted in this space many times before, there’s an obvious link between cockfighting and interstate gambling. And if that is not enough illegal activity to justify the attention of state lawmakers, how about drug trafficking and contraband? It’s clear cockfighting is not a harmless diversion. It’s a barbaric crime that deserves more of a penalty than a slap on the wrist.The Humane Society of the United States pays a $5,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of cockfighters.To report a cockfighting pit in your neighborhood, call 202-452-1100, or go to www. http://bit.ly/1mpbsz2 to learn more.



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