WASHINGTON --Today, Wayne Pacelle, president and CEO of The Humane Society of the United States, appealed to House Majority leader John A. Boehner to place legislation to crack down on the widespread practice of illegal dogfighting and cockfighting on the House calendar and not allow Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Sensenbrenner (R-5th-WI) to hold this legislation hostage any longer.  The Senate passed this legislation unanimously 17 months ago, and the House bill, H.R. 817, has 324 bipartisan cosponsors—three quarters of the entire House.

This legislation, introduced by Rep. Mark Green (R-8th-WI), Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-3rd-OR), Rep. Elton Gallegly (R-24th-CA), Rep. Robert Andrews (D-1st-NJ), and Rep. Roscoe Bartlett (R-6th-MD), establishes a felony-level penalty for any interstate or foreign transport of animals for fighting purposes.  The bill also makes it a crime to move cockfighting implements in interstate or foreign commerce. Mr. Pacelle wrote the letter on behalf of The HSUS' nearly 10 million members and supporters across the country.

"Chairman Sensenbrenner is doing the bidding of dogfighting and cockfighting interests, and it shouldn't be tolerated," stated Mr. Pacelle in a letter sent to Boehner today. "Frankly, enough is enough.  How many more murders and drug busts need to occur – to say nothing of the extraordinary animal cruelty – before the House is allowed to take an up-or-down vote on this measure?"

The Senate passed an identical companion bill (S. 382), introduced by Sen. John Ensign (R-NV), Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA), Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA), and Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA), on April 28, 2005 by unanimous consent.  The House bill, which now has 324 bipartisan cosponsors – more cosponsors than nearly any other bill in Congress – has inexplicably been bottled up in the House Judiciary Committee. "Cockfighting and dogfighting are barbaric and inhumane practices, and Chairman Sensenbrenner's failure to act on this legislation a year and a half after the Senate took unanimous action is unconscionable."

The bill is supported by The Humane Society of the United States, American Veterinary Medical Association, National Chicken Council, National Sheriffs' Association, and more than 400 state and local law enforcement agencies covering every state in the country. Forty-eight states have felony penalties for dog fighting and 33 states have felony penalties for cockfighting.  Sheriffs and police departments recognize that animal fighting is an interstate industry – often associated with other crimes such as illegal gambling, drug trafficking, and acts of human violence – that requires the federal government's help to curb.

The need for this legislation has become even more urgent, as the illegal transport of cockfighting birds has been linked to the spread of deadly bird flu. The only groups opposing H.R. 817 are dog fighting and cockfighting interests.

Copies of Mr. Pacelle's letter to Rep. Boehner are available on request.

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The Humane Society of the United States is the nation's largest animal protection organization with more than 9.5 million members and constituents. The HSUS is a mainstream voice for animals, with active programs in companion animals, disaster preparedness and response, wildlife and habitat protection, marine mammals, animals in research, equine protection, and farm animal welfare. The HSUS protects all animals through education, investigation, litigation, legislation, advocacy and field work. The nonprofit organization is based in Washington and has field representatives and offices across the country. On the web at  www.hsus.org.