By Anita Kumar
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, January 15, 2008; B01
RICHMOND, Jan. 14 -- Animal rights activists say Virginia legislators reacted with skepticism, even jokes, when they tried in past years to advocate for harsher laws against animal fighting.
That changed, they say, last year after Atlanta Falcons football star Michael Vick pleaded guilty to conspiracy in connection with a dogfighting operation on his property in southeastern Virginia, where dogs had been shot, hanged, beaten, drowned and electrocuted.
Now activists are riding that wave of national publicity to try to get tougher laws on the books to increase penalties for those who organize or watch animal fights and to give law enforcement more powers to find and arrest them.
The General Assembly, which began a 60-day legislative session last week, is considering more animal protection bills than in past years, many of them sponsored by Senate and House leaders.
"The members of the General Assembly had a tendency not to take bills regarding animal welfare seriously," said Robin Starr, chief executive officer of the Richmond SPCA, which has worked to get bills passed for years. "There is no question about the fact that the mood has changed this year. I think everybody got quite an education about how horrific dogfighting is. I think it's changed people's understanding entirely."
Legislators, including Senate Minority Leader Thomas K. Norment Jr. (R-James City), and Attorney General Robert F. McDonnell (R) will join the Humane Society of the United States at a news conference Tuesday to tout the importance of this year's proposals.
Virginia's animal-fighting laws are less strict than other states', particularly for cockfighting, and law enforcement officials say residents from neighboring states come to watch and gamble thousands of dollars in arenas complete with bleacher seats and concession stands.
McDonnell, who included several animal protection proposals on his legislative agenda this year, said that high-profile cases such as the Virginia Tech shooting often help bring attention to laws that need to be changed. "There hadn't been a lot of focus [on animals] until the Michael Vick case," he said.
Vick pleaded guilty to a single conspiracy count for operating Bad Newz Kennels, a dogfighting operation that started six years ago in Surry County. In December, he was sentenced to a tougher-than-expected, 23-month prison term and recently entered a drug treatment program.
"There's no question the Michael Vick situation was an embarrassment to the state," said House Majority Leader H. Morgan Griffith (R-Salem), who is also sponsoring a bill.
The Vick case was quickly followed by the unrelated discovery of a suspected puppy mill in Carroll County, where more than 1,000 dogs were found in cages.
The high-profile Virginia cases have prompted a flurry of complaints about suspected animal abuse cases as well as legislative proposals in states across the nation.
Dogfighting is illegal in all 50 states, and transporting dogs from one state to another for fighting is banned by federal law. In Virginia, Maryland and the District, dogfighting and possession of dogs for fighting is a felony; watching is a misdemeanor.
A Maryland legislator has introduced a bill that would make it a felony to attend a dogfight or cockfight.
The Humane Society estimates that 25 state legislatures will consider strengthening animal-fighting laws this year, although more proposals are being introduced in Virginia than elsewhere.
"This year we are seeing the strongest push [ever] to enact animal fighting legislation," said John Goodwin, manager of animal fighting issues for the Humane Society. "Michael Vick really put a spotlight on animal fighting in the Commonwealth."
The Humane Society estimates that 40,000 people nationwide are involved in organized dogfighting and an additional 100,000 are involved at the street level. In total, they fight more than 250,000 dogs each year.
Virginia and Maryland have dogfighting, Goodwin said, and Virginia also has at least 30 cockfighting rings, mostly along the North Carolina border. Maryland is known for raising roosters for fighting.
Arrest statistics for individual states are not available, but the Humane Society has counted 150 cases in the past two years, including eight in Virginia, two in Maryland and one in the District.
"The public is more aware of animal fighting," said Richard Samuels, president of the Virginia Animal Fighting Task Force and an animal control officer in Spotsylvania County. "They just figured it happened in other states and not in Virginia."
In Virginia, bills have been introduced that would include animal fighting under the state racketeering law, which would lead to longer prison sentences and seizure of assets; make all forms of animal fighting a felony; increase penalties for spectators and those who bring children to watch; and allow more searches at places where fighting is believed to be occurring.
"Dogfighting is a practice that has got to be outlawed," said House Minority Leader Ward L. Armstrong (D-Henry). "I didn't know it was happening. It was news to me. . . . But people will do anything for entertainment."
A coalition of groups -- including the Virginia Animal Control Association, the Virginia Animal Fighting Task Force, the Virginia Federation of Humane Societies, the Richmond SPCA and the Virginia Anti-Dogfighting Coalition -- is lobbying for changes.
Not all animal protection bills this year relate to fighting, however. A slew of other bills have been filed, including ones that would ban the use of gas chambers to euthanize pets, raise penalties for tethering animals, limit the number of puppies bred and sold each year and increase training for animal control officers.
Bob Kane, president of the Virginia Hunting Dog Owners' Association, said he has no concern with the dogfighting bills but worries about the sheer number of proposals, including one that regulates breeders, which he called "overkill."
"It's been creeping up,'' he said. "This year, it's a quantum jump.
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