[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 124 (Tuesday, July 31, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Page S10409]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              DOGFIGHTING

  Mr. KERRY. Mr. President, on July 26, I introduced critical 
legislation to stem the rising tide of dogfighting in our country. 
Dogfighting is one of society's most barbaric and inhumane activities. 
The dogs are mistreated, starved and conditioned for aggression, and 
then allowed to literally destroy one another in the ring. As we have 
read in the recent indictment of Atlanta Falcon's quarterback Michael 
Vick on dogfighting charges, poor-performing dogs are tortured, maimed, 
and killed. This illegal and despicable activity has no place in a 
civilized society.
  However, dogfighting has expanded its hold in recent years. The 
Humane Society of the United States estimates that 40,000 people in the 
United States are involved in professional dogfighting, and fight 
purses reach as high as $100,000. As many as 100,000 additional people 
are involved in ``streetfighting,'' informal dogfighting that often 
involves young people in gangs.
  This legislation would place a Federal ban on all aspects of 
dogfighting activity from owning to transporting to training dogs for 
the purpose of fighting, to participating as a spectator at dogfighting 
ventures. I hope this legislation will end the practice of dogfighting 
in our country, once and for all.
  This Congress's authority to make the lucrative commercial aspects of 
dogfighting a crime cannot be doubted. Just 2 years ago, the Supreme 
Court made clear in Gonzales v. Raich that Congress's authority under 
the commerce clause extends to local activities that are an integral 
component of interstate criminal activities.
  This bill is well within that standard. As demonstrated in the Vick 
indictment and by the many law enforcement records, animal welfare 
reports, and economic studies that will be entered into the Record on 
this bill the--dogfighting industry has become nationwide in scope, and 
Congress is well within its authority to address both the nationwide 
framework and localized branches that are a critical part of that 
extensive criminal venture. We are dealing with a criminal industry has 
developed into a multifaceted, national and international commercial 
market that depends heavily upon illegal trafficking between States. 
Dogfighting is an inherently commercial and economic activity that has 
a substantial effect upon interstate commerce.
  Dogfighting is an interconnected, nationwide, lucrative commercial 
industry. In addition to high-stakes gambling, dogfighters exchange 
tens if not hundreds of millions of dollars annually on the purchase 
and sale of fighting dogs. Dog fighters also make top dollar by 
breeding or selling ``stud'' privileges for fighting dogs, and can make 
top dollar by breeding dogs that have proven themselves in the ring by 
killing multiple other dogs.
  This extensive commercial venture also requires trafficking in the 
specialized equipment necessary to train and house fighting dogs. There 
are even underground transport services to courier these dogs from one 
match to the next--assuming they survive. Dog fighters also make a 
living handling and training fighting dogs for well-funded sponsors--as 
we saw in the Vick indictment.
  It could not be clearer that the overwhelming majority of dog 
fights--if not every single dog fight--are truly economic endeavors 
that involve some element of interstate commerce, such as animals, 
equipment, breeders, or spectators having traveled across State lines. 
Many dog fights are conducted for the purposes of illegal gambling, and 
some gambling on the sidelines is almost always present at these 
fights. Dogfighting also burdens interstate commerce by increasing the 
risk of injury or disease to both animals and humans, including dog 
bites, rabies, and heartworms.
  What's more, small, localized dogfighting ventures, when viewed in 
the aggregate, have a substantial impact upon interstate commerce. As 
the allegations I mentioned earlier against Michael Vick and his 
codefendants demonstrate, large amounts of money are at stake in 
dogfighting matches, and winners often take home all or some portion of 
entry fees paid by other participants. The individual dogs used in 
fighting can have a commercial value of between hundreds of dollars and 
tens of thousands of dollars per animal. All of the activities 
associated with dogfighting, including gambling and other illegal 
activities, equipment outlays, breeding expenses, and promotion costs 
are not only inherently commercial in nature but transcend State 
boundaries.
  By way of example, there are dozens of Federal criminal prohibitions 
on the local creation, possession, and sale of narcotics and narcotic-
making equipment. Congress recognized that the illicit drug industry 
had become nationwide in scope, and chose to exercise its 
constitutional power to address the localized branches of that 
extensive criminal venture. Likewise, this bill responds to the 
proliferation of dog fighting into a nationwide criminal network of 
local ventures, which Congress is similarly authorized to address. Just 
look at the Endangered Species Act, which broadly restricts the 
killing, taking, or breeding of certain wild animals, in order to 
effectuate Congress's goal of preventing the extinction of imperiled 
species. The ESA has been upheld as a valid exercise of Congress's 
authority by every federal appeals court to address the issue, and the 
Supreme Court has repeatedly declined to upset those judgments.
  The effects of dogfighting on interstate commerce are neither 
indirect, remote, nor attenuated. Regulation of dogfighting is 
necessary to prevent and eliminate burdens upon interstate commerce. In 
addition, the regulation of dogfighting is an essential part of a 
larger regulatory scheme, the Animal Welfare Act, which mandates the 
humane treatment of animals in our society.

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