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Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

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Republicans float conspiracy theories on the collapse of Baltimore's Key Bridge, South Carolina s congressional elections will use a map ruled unconstitutional, and the Senate schedules an impeachment trial for Homeland Secretary Myorkas.

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Farm Bill Would "Fortify" Commonwealth Animal-Fighting Laws

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Monday, August 5, 2013   

BOSTON - No spectators, no fighting. That's the message from animal-welfare groups trying to make it a federal crime, punishable by jail, for being a spectator at an animal fight. Both the House and Senate versions of the Farm Bill, under negotiation now, include prohibitions against attending animal fights.

According to John Goodwin, director of animal cruelty policy for the Humane Society of the United States, spectators are not innocent bystanders, and federal law enforcement should be able to go after them.

"We hear reports from animal control officers, whether it's Boston or other bigger towns in New England, about dog-fighting on a regular basis," he charged.

Dog-fighting is a felony in the Commonwealth, and so is being a spectator at a dog fight.

Goodwin said that in states where there's little or no penalty for spectators, a raid on a dog fight can lead to handlers abandoning their fighting dogs.

"Many of these guys have discovered that if they abandon their animals at the first sign of a raid they can avoid prosecution," he said. "We want to take that loophole away and ensure the entire cast of characters at animal fights is prosecuted."

He commends Massachusetts Rep. Jim McGovern for co-sponsoring the measure in the House.

Wayne Pacelle, president and CEO of the Humane Society of the United States, said the spectator prohibition act would fortify the law in Massachusetts and eliminate incentives for dog-fighting and cockfighting across the nation.

It is intended "to crack down on the people who are bringing children to dog fights and cockfights, and for people who are just there to watch and to gamble on the outcome," Pacelle said.

The House and Senate have each passed their own versions of the Farm Bill. Now conferees will try to work out the differences.





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