[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 8723 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 8723

To amend the Animal Welfare Act to prohibit gambling on animal fighting 
                   ventures, and for other purposes.


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                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 11, 2026

  Mr. Bacon introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                        Committee on Agriculture

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                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Animal Welfare Act to prohibit gambling on animal fighting 
                   ventures, and for other purposes.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Fighting Inhumane Gambling and High-
risk Trafficking Act of 2026'' or the ``FIGHT Act of 2026''.

SEC. 2. ANIMAL FIGHTING.

    Section 26 of the Animal Welfare Act (7 U.S.C. 2156) is amended--
            (1) by striking the section designation and header and all 
        that follows through ``It shall be unlawful'' in subsection 
        (a)(2) and inserting the following:

``SEC. 26. SPONSORING OR EXHIBITING AN ANIMAL IN, ATTENDING, CAUSING AN 
              INDIVIDUAL WHO HAS NOT ATTAINED THE AGE OF 16 TO ATTEND, 
              OR GAMBLING ON, AN ANIMAL FIGHTING VENTURE.

    ``(a) Sponsoring or Exhibiting.--
            ``(1) In general.--It shall be unlawful for any person to 
        knowingly sponsor or exhibit an animal in an animal fighting 
        venture.
            ``(2) Attending or causing an individual who has not 
        attained the age of 16 to attend.--It shall be unlawful''; and
            (2) in subsection (a), by adding at the end the following:
            ``(3) Animal venture gambling.--It shall be unlawful for 
        any person to gamble on an animal fighting venture, including 
        an in-person or broadcast event.''.
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