DES MOINES – The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) and
the Animal Rescue League of Iowa, Inc. (ARL) are applauding
Governor Vilsack and the Iowa Legislature for enacting S.F.
2268, which includes provisions to make it a crime for people
to train animals for fights and to be spectators at these cruel
spectacles. Iowa has one of the nation’s weakest laws against
animal fighting, and Iowa law enforcement, veterinary, and
animal welfare organizations have called for improvements in
the statute. The governor signed the bill on Friday.
“By signing this bill, Governor Vilsack has taken a major
step towards preventing illegal dog fighters and cockfighters
from using Iowa’s weak statute to shield themselves from the
law,” says Tom Colvin, Executive Director of ARL and President
of the Iowa Federation of Humane Societies. “This hopefully
presages further legislation to strengthen penalties and close
loopholes that permit this gruesome and barbaric practice to
continue in Iowa.”
S.F. 2268 will take Iowa off the list of just three states
where it is still legal to attend dog fights, and of fourteen
states where it is still legal to attend cockfights. It will
also prohibit the use of animal fighting devices to train dogs
or birds for fighting. However, some important weaknesses in
Iowa’s animal fighting law remain to be addressed. Iowa is
still one of only four states which do not make dog fighting a
felony, and one of only seven states which permit keeping dogs
for fighting. This loophole places law enforcement at a severe
disadvantage in catching those involved in underground animal
fights, and the low penalties serve as little deterrent against
events at which tens of thousands of dollars often change hands
in illegal wagering. Law enforcement organizations including
the Iowa Association of Chiefs of Police and Police Officers,
the Cedar County Sheriff’s Office, and the Iowa City Police
Department have called for legislation to fix these
problems.
The animal fighting provisions were originally introduced as
a free-standing bill, H.F. 2313, by Representatives Mark Kuhn
(D-29-Charles City) and Joe Seng (D-43-Davenport). The
provisions were pushed by Representatives Michael Cormack
(R-13-Ft. Dodge) and Clel Baudler (R-78-Greenfield), after
being attached to S.F. 2268 with help from Representatives
Charles Larson (R-55-Cedar Rapids) and Mark Tremmel
(D-93-Ottumwa). Senator Donald Redfern (R-12-Cedar Falls) was
the floor manager during debate on the bill in the Senate.
The U.S. House and Senate recently passed legislation,
co-authored in the Senate by Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), to ban
the interstate transport or exports of birds for fighting
purposes as part of the Farm Bill. Support for this federal ban
was overwhelming in both chambers. The interstate transport of
dogs for fighting is already illegal.
“We are heartened by this important step forward in
upgrading Iowa's animal fighting laws. The federal government
is also taking action against animal fighting, and the noose is
tightening around the necks of animal fighters, and rightly
so,” says Wayne Pacelle, a senior vice president of The HSUS.
“The Iowa legislature should now take the next step, banning
possession of fighting animals and making animal fighting a
felony, to give law enforcement the tools to crack down on
individuals who would subject animals to such despicable
cruelty.”
Animal fighting involves pitting two or more dogs or birds,
bred specially for aggressive characteristics and often drugged
to heighten aggression, in a fight to the death for
entertainment and illegal gambling. Birds have razor-sharp
steel blades or three inch long ice-pick-like gaffs strapped to
their legs to make the fights more violent. Animal fighting
events are notorious as common venues for other illegal
activities, including the use and sale of illegal drugs and
firearms, illegal gambling, and violence against people.
