Panel takes aim at dogfight spectators [View All]

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Source: Time Picayune

House bill advances to beef up penalties

BATON ROUGE -- Hoping to choke off the wagering that fuels illegal dogfights, a House committee backed legislation Thursday that would send spectators at the events to prison for up to 10 years.

The Committee on the Administration of Criminal Justice gave unanimous support to House Bill 286 by Rep. J.P. Morrell, D-New Orleans, sending it to the House floor for debate. Although dogfights already are illegal, Morrell said the betting that accompanies them can make it worth the risk of staging them.

The bill would replace the misdemeanor punishment now in the law for attending a dogfight -- up to a $500 fine and six months in jail -- with nearly the same felony sentences as dogfighting or operating a dogfighting arena: up to 10 years in prison, and fines ranging from $1,000 to $25,000.

Morrell said the bill could take some people out of the dogfighting business by taking away the profit motive.

Time Picayune

Read more: http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/capital/index.ssf?/base/news-5/120789142927440.xml&coll=1

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More prison sentences. Where are they going to find the space?