IB 

Union Calendar No. 10 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 137 

[Report No. 110–27, Part I] 

To amend title 18, United States Code, to strengthen prohibitions against 

animal fighting, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 4, 2007 

Mr. GALLEGLY (for himself, Mr. BLUMENAUER, and Mr. BARTLETT of Maryland) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Agriculture, for 

a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for 

consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

MARCH 1, 2007 

Additional sponsors: Mr. CAMPBELL of California, Mr. SHIMKUS, Mr. DEAL

of Georgia, Mr. NORWOOD, Mr. JONES of North Carolina, Mr. SHADEGG, 

Mr. BILBRAY, Ms. PRYCE of Ohio, Mr. MORAN of Virginia, Mr. LINDER, 

Mr. MARKEY, Mr. BERMAN, Mr. UPTON, Mr. ISSA, Mr. SAXTON, Mr. 

GARY G. MILLER of California, Mr. WELDON of Florida, Mr. SMITH of 

New Jersey, Mr. ROYCE, Mr. FOSSELLA, Mr. SHAYS, Mr. CRAMER, Mr. 

WOLF, Ms. HARMAN, Mr. COSTELLO, Mr. WELLER of Illinois, Mr. KIRK, 

Mr. FRANKS of Arizona, Mr. WALSH of New York, Mr. KING of New 

York, Mr. GILCHREST, Mr. FARR, Mr. MURTHA, Mr. EHLERS, Mr. KILDEE, Mr. RYAN of Ohio, Ms. HOOLEY, Mr. BURTON of Indiana, Mrs. 

BLACKBURN, Mr. PALLONE, Mr. DOYLE, Ms. NORTON, Mr. MCNULTY, 

Mr. CARDOZA, Mr. CUMMINGS, Mr. BOSWELL, Mr. MCCOTTER, Mr. NADLER, Mr. DICKS, Mr. WEINER, Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida, Mr. 

SCHIFF, Mr. CROWLEY, Mr. KNOLLENBERG, Mrs. LOWEY, Ms. MCCOLLUM of Minnesota, Mr. TOM DAVIS of Virginia, Mr. ACKERMAN, Mr. 

CLYBURN, Mrs. TAUSCHER, Mrs. MALONEY of New York, Ms. LEE, Ms. 

MATSUI, Ms. SCHWARTZ, Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Mr. DEFAZIO, 

Mrs. BIGGERT, Mr. POMEROY, Mr. DELAHUNT, Mr. HIGGINS, Mr. VAN

HOLLEN, Ms. WOOLSEY, Mr. WILSON of South Carolina, Ms. BERKLEY, 

Mrs. CAPPS, Mr. ENGEL, Ms. LORETTA SANCHEZ of California, Mr. 


hmoore on PROD1PC68 with HMBILLS
2 

•HR 137 RH

BECERRA, Mrs. JO ANN DAVIS of Virginia, Mr. BAIRD, Mr. BOOZMAN, 

Mr. WEXLER, Ms. DELAURO, Mr. CLAY, Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California, Mr. SOUDER, Mr. CASTLE, Mr. CHABOT, Mr. EVERETT, Mr. 

HALL of Texas, Mr. HERGER, Mr. KELLER of Florida, Mr. MANZULLO, 

Mr. MCHUGH, Mrs. MILLER of Michigan, Mr. REGULA, Mr. WALDEN of 

Oregon, Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN, Mr. INSLEE, Ms. LINDA T. SA ́NCHEZ of 

California, Mr. HOLDEN, Mr. HONDA, Mr. SHERMAN, Mr. THOMPSON of 

California, Mr. RUPPERSBERGER, Mr. VISCLOSKY, Mr. REYES, Mr. HINCHEY, Mr. WHITFIELD, Mr. LIPINSKI, Mr. HOLT, Mr. MCKEON, Mr. 

FILNER, Mr. SNYDER, Mr. WAXMAN, Mr. RAMSTAD, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, 

Mr. INGLIS of South Carolina, Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts, Mr. BACA, 

Ms. BEAN, Mr. HASTINGS of Florida, Mr. KIND, Mr. GENE GREEN of 

Texas, Ms. ZOE LOFGREN of California, Mr. WU, Mr. OBERSTAR, Ms. 

ESHOO, Mrs. EMERSON, Mrs. BONO, Mrs. CUBIN, Mr. GILLMOR, Mr. 

GINGREY, Mr. HOBSON, Mr. LATOURETTE, Mr. LEWIS of Kentucky, 

Mrs. MCMORRIS RODGERS, Mrs. MUSGRAVE, Mrs. MYRICK, Mr. ROTHMAN, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. LANTOS, Mr. AKIN, Mr. FORBES, Mr. HOEKSTRA, Mr. LOBIONDO, Mr. MICA, Mr. PETERSON of Pennsylvania, Mr. 

REHBERG, Mr. TANCREDO, Mr. TIAHRT, Mr. SERRANO, Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, Mr. JACKSON of Illinois, Mr. ROGERS of Michigan, Ms. JACKSONLEE of Texas, Mr. ENGLISH of Pennsylvania, Mr. SMITH of Texas, Mr. 

PUTNAM, Mr. RENZI, Mr. LATHAM, Mr. PENCE, Mr. MCDERMOTT, Ms. 

HERSETH, Mr. COSTA, Mr. MEEHAN, Mr. ETHERIDGE, Mr. REICHERT, 

Mr. UDALL of Colorado, Ms. MILLENDER-MCDONALD, Mr. OLVER, Mr. 

PASCRELL, Mr. RAHALL, Mr. KUCINICH, Ms. KAPTUR, Mr. MILLER of 

Florida, Mr. PITTS, Mr. FERGUSON, Mr. LAHOOD, Mrs. CAPITO, Mr. 

TOWNS, Mr. WYNN, Mrs. DAVIS of California, Mr. PLATTS, Mr. SMITH

of Washington, Mr. HULSHOF, Mr. KENNEDY, Mr. RUSH, Mr. ABERCROMBIE, Mr. BISHOP of Utah, Mr. RYAN of Wisconsin, Mr. LEWIS of 

Georgia, Ms. GINNY BROWN-WAITE of Florida, Mr. GERLACH, Mr. 

PETRI, Mr. CAMP of Michigan, Mr. ISRAEL, Mr. PORTER, Ms. WATERS, 

Mr. BISHOP of New York, Mr. CARNAHAN, Ms. CARSON, Mrs. MCCARTHY of New York, Mr. SCOTT of Georgia, Mr. KUHL of New York, Mr. 

SHUSTER, Mr. MCGOVERN, Ms. MOORE of Wisconsin, Mr. LEVIN, Mr. 

TIBERI, Mrs. SCHMIDT, Mr. MCHENRY, Mr. BILIRAKIS, Mr. MILLER of 

North Carolina, Mr. DAVIS of Kentucky, Mr. NEAL of Massachusetts, 

Mr. BUYER, Mr. BROWN of South Carolina, Mr. MOORE of Kansas, Ms. 

EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas, Mr. DOOLITTLE, Mr. TIERNEY, Mr. 

RANGEL, Mr. MEEKS of New York, Mr. PAYNE, Mr. CLEAVER, Mr. 

COHEN, Mr. EMANUEL, Mr. KANJORSKI, Mr. PRICE of Georgia, Mr. 

DANIEL E. LUNGREN of California, Mr. TERRY, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. 

LYNCH, Mr. GUTIERREZ, Mr. CARNEY, Mr. STARK, Mr. DAVIS of Illinois, 

Mr. MCINTYRE, Mr. TIM MURPHY of Pennsylvania, Mr. SIRES, Mr. 

YOUNG of Florida, Mr. KLINE of Minnesota, Ms. SOLIS, Ms. SLAUGHTER, Mr. DENT, Mr. ALLEN, Mr. HARE, Mr. SALAZAR, Ms. BALDWIN, 

Mr. MICHAUD, Mr. ROSKAM, Mr. DREIER, Mr. CAPUANO, Ms. WATSON, 

Mr. DOGGETT, Mrs. DRAKE, Mr. YARMUTH, Ms. SHEA-PORTER, Mr. 

MITCHELL, Mr. PRICE of North Carolina, Mr. ANDREWS, Mr. COBLE, 

Mr. LARSEN of Washington, Mr. MCNERNEY, Mr. COURTNEY, Mr. 

BACHUS, Mr. BRADY of Pennsylvania, Mr. DAVIS of Alabama, Mr. 

WALBERG, Mr. WALZ of Minnesota, Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA, Ms. SUTTON, 


hmoore on PROD1PC68 with HMBILLS
3 

•HR 137 RH

Mr. LANGEVIN, Mr. HELLER of Nevada, Mr. HASTINGS of Washington, 

Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Mr. ALTMIRE, Ms. KILPATRICK, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, Mr. GARRETT of New Jersey, Mr. GONZALEZ, Mr. 

BUCHANAN, Mr. SPRATT, Mr. SCOTT of Virginia, Mr. ELLISON, Mr. 

HALL of New York, Mr. PERLMUTTER, Mr. WILSON of Ohio, Mr. SPACE, 

Mr. KLEIN of Florida, Mr. KAGEN, Ms. DEGETTE, Ms. GIFFORDS, Mr. 

SESTAK, Mr. SARBANES, Ms. CASTOR, Mr. FATTAH, Mr. AL GREEN of 

Texas, Mr. ARCURI, and Mr. PATRICK MURPHY of Pennsylvania 

MARCH 1, 2007 

Reported from the Committee on the Judiciary with an amendment 

[Omit the part struck through] 

MARCH 1, 2007 

Committee on Agriculture discharged; committed to the Committee on the 

Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed 

A BILL 

To amend title 18, United States Code, to strengthen 

prohibitions against animal fighting, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Animal Fighting Pro5 hibition Enforcement Act of 2007’’. 

6 SEC. 2. ENFORCEMENT OF ANIMAL FIGHTING PROHIBI7 TIONS. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 3 of title 18, United 

9 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol10 lowing: 


hmoore on PROD1PC68 with HMBILLS
4 

•HR 137 RH

1 ‘‘§ 49. Animal fighting prohibition 

2 ‘‘(a) SPONSORING OR EXHIBITING AN ANIMAL IN AN

3 ANIMAL FIGHTING VENTURE.— 

4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para5 graph (2), it shall be unlawful for any person to 

6 knowingly sponsor or exhibit an animal in an animal 

7 fighting venture, if any animal in the venture was 

8 moved in interstate or foreign commerce. 

9 ‘‘(2) SPECIAL RULE FOR CERTAIN STATES.— 

10 With respect to fighting ventures involving live birds 

11 in a State where it would not be in violation of the 

12 law, it shall be unlawful under this subsection for a 

13 person to sponsor or exhibit a bird in the fighting 

14 venture only if the person knew that any bird in the 

15 fighting venture was knowingly bought, sold, deliv16 ered, transported, or received in interstate or foreign 

17 commerce for the purpose of participation in the 

18 fighting venture. 

19 ‘‘(b) BUYING, SELLING, DELIVERING, OR TRANS20 PORTING ANIMALS FOR PARTICIPATION IN ANIMAL

21 FIGHTING VENTURE.—It shall be unlawful for any person 

22 to knowingly sell, buy, transport, or deliver, or receive for 

23 purposes of transportation, in interstate or foreign com24 merce, any dog or other animal for purposes of having 

25 the dog or other animal participate in an animal fighting 

26 venture. 


hmoore on PROD1PC68 with HMBILLS
5 

•HR 137 RH

1 ‘‘(c) USE OF POSTAL SERVICE OR OTHER INTER2 STATE INSTRUMENTALITY FOR PROMOTING ANIMAL

3 FIGHTING VENTURE.—It shall be unlawful for any person 

4 to knowingly use the mail service of the United States 

5 Postal Service or any instrumentality of interstate com6 merce for commercial speech promoting an animal fighting 

7 venture except as performed outside the limits of the 

8 States of the United States. 

9 ‘‘(d) VIOLATION OF STATE LAW.—Notwithstanding 

10 subsection (c), the activities prohibited by such subsection 

11 shall be unlawful with respect to fighting ventures involv12 ing live birds only if the fight is to take place in a State 

13 where it would be in violation of the laws thereof. 

14 ‘‘(e) SHARP INSTRUMENTS.—It shall be unlawful for 

15 any person to knowingly sell, buy, transport, or deliver in 

16 interstate or foreign commerce a knife, a gaff, or any 

17 other sharp instrument attached, or designed or intended 

18 to be attached, to the leg of a bird for use in an animal 

19 fighting venture. 

20 ‘‘(f) PENALTIES.—Any person who violates sub21 section (a), (b), (c), or (e) shall be fined under this title 

22 or imprisoned for not more than 3 years, or both, for each 

23 such violation. 

24 ‘‘(g) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section— 


hmoore on PROD1PC68 with HMBILLS
6 

•HR 137 RH

1 ‘‘(1) the term ‘animal fighting venture’ means 

2 any event which involves a fight between at least two 

3 animals and is conducted for purposes of sport, wa4 gering, or entertainment except that the term ‘ani5 mal fighting venture’ shall not be deemed to include 

6 any activity the primary purpose of which involves 

7 the use of one or more animals in hunting another 

8 animal or animals, such as waterfowl, bird, raccoon, 

9 or fox hunting; 

10 ‘‘(2) the term ‘instrumentality of interstate 

11 commerce’ means any written, wire, radio, television 

12 or other form of communication in, or using a facil13 ity of, interstate commerce; 

14 ‘‘(3) the term ‘State’ means any State of the 

15 United States, the District of Columbia, the Com16 monwealth of Puerto Rico, and any territory or pos17 session of the United States; and 

18 ‘‘(4) the term ‘animal’ means any live bird, or 

19 any live dog or other mammal, except man. 

20 ‘‘(h) CONFLICT WITH STATE LAW.—The provisions 

21 of this section do not supersede or otherwise invalidate 

22 any such State, local, or municipal legislation or ordinance 

23 relating to animal fighting ventures except in case of a 

24 direct and irreconcilable conflict between any requirements 


hmoore on PROD1PC68 with HMBILLS
7 

•HR 137 RH

1 thereunder and this section or any rule, regulation, or 

2 standard hereunder.’’. 

3 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 

4 for chapter 3 of title 18, is amended by inserting after 

5 the item relating to section 48 the following: 

‘‘49. Animal fighting prohibition.’’. 

6 (c) REPEAL OF CRIMINAL PENALTY IN THE ANIMAL

7 WELFARE ACT.—Section 26 of the Animal Welfare Act 

8 (7 U.S.C. 2156) is amended by striking subsection (e). 


hmoore on PROD1PC68 with HMBILLS
Union Calendar No. 10 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 137 

[Report No. 110

–27, Part I] 

A BILL 

To amend title 18, United States Code, to strengthother purposes. en prohibitions against animal fighting, and for 

MARCH 1, 2007 

Committee on Agriculture discharged; committed to the 

Union and ordered to be printed Committee on the Whole House on the State of the 


hmoore on PROD1PC68 with HMBILLS