The Animal Fighting Spectator Prohibition Act (U.S. House of Representatives/H.R. 366) will make it a crime to attend an organized animal fight and
increase the penalties for bringing a minor (a person under 18) to a cockfight, dogfight, or any other staged animal fight.
On December 4, 2012, the U.S. Senate passed S. 1947 but the House companion bill failed. It has been reintroduced in 2013 as H.R. 366.
Please contact your U.S. House Representative and urge him or her to cosponsor and support H.R. 366, the Animal Fighting Spectator Prohibition Act
of 2013.
The Honorable _____________
United States House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515
Dear Representative ______________:
As a member of your congressional district, I am writing to urge you please to cosponsor and support the Animal Fighting Spectator Prohibition Act,
H.R. 366. This legislation will make it a crime to attend an organized animal fight and increase penalties for bringing a child to a cockfight,
dogfight, or any other staged animal fight. The Animal Fighting Spectator Prohibition Act will strengthen federal-level penalties for participation
in animal fighting activities. Please support H.R. 366 and advise me of your decision. Thank you very much for your attention. I look forward to
hearing from you.
Sincerely,
Your name, mailing address/zipcode & email address & phone number
To learn the name of your U.S. House Representative, call the Capital Switchboard at 202-224-3121. Or visit www.house.gov/. Where it says Find Your Representative, enter your zipcode and the information you need to
contact your U.S. Representative will pop up.
Here is UPC’s letter to U.S. House Rep. E. Scott Rigell by email and regular mail:
January 31, 2013
The Honorable E. Scott Rigell
United States House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515
http://rigell.house.gov/contact/
Dear Representative Rigell:
I am writing to you as a member of your congressional district on the Eastern Shore to urge you to support H.R. 366, the Animal Fighting Spectator
Prohibition Act of 2013.
H.R. 2492, which as Senate companion bill S. 1947 passed the Senate December 4, 2012, failed in the House in 2012. It is time to pass this
legislation. Please support H.R. 366 and join me as a cosponsor.
H.R. 366 makes it a crime to attend an organized animal fight or to bring a person under 18 years old to a cockfight or dogfight.
As you may recall, in 2008, the Commonwealth of Virginia amended the Code of Virginia Section 3.1-796.124 to strengthen the state’s animal
fighting law and penalties for engaging in organized animal fights, including cockfights, for amusement, sport, or financial gain.
United States citizens and Virginia residents overwhelmingly oppose staged animal fights and support legislation prohibiting and penalizing
participation in these activities in which animal cruelty, drug trafficking, illegal gambling, public corruption and murder are involved.
In 2007, the U.S. Congress passed legislation providing felony-level penalties for interstate and foreign animal fighting activities and outlawing
commerce in cockfighting weapons.
H.R. 366, the Animal Fighting Spectator Prohibition Act, will strengthen the federal legislation and reinforce animal fighting laws in Virginia.
Please cosponsor and support H.R. 366. I look forward to hearing from you. Thank you for your attention.
Sincerely,
Karen Davis, PhD, President
United Poultry Concerns
PO Box 150
Machipongo, VA 23405
Phone: 757-678-7875
Little Rooster, who died in November, 2011 after being rescued from
a
cockfighting ring and brought to UPC in 2009. How
lucky we were to know him.
To learn more about cockfighting, please visit www.upc-online.org/cockfighting/.
