Rep. Steven King recently appeared in a video defending citizens' rights to attend animal fights. His opinion was in response to a farm bill amendment that would criminalize attending organized animal fights and would impose additional penalties on those bringing children to the fights.
According to King, "When the legislation that passed in the farm bill that says it's a federal crime to watch animals fight or to induce someone else to watch an animal fight, but it's not a federal crime to induce someone to watch people fighting, there's something wrong with the priorities of people who think like that."
Human fights are consensual, while animal fights are not. Animal fights are blood sports that often end in the death of one animal. In addition, animal fighting can harm humans, as people have had their pets stolen for fighting, and dogs bred to fight aggressively have attacked humans. Please urge Rep. King to change his position on dog fights and all blood sports involving animals.
Dear Rep. Steven King,
We, the undersigned, are concerned with the views you recently expressed about citizens' rights to view animal fights. We are especially concerned with your quote comparing animal fights to human fights: "When the legislation that passed in the farm bill that says it's a federal crime to watch animals fight or to induce someone else to watch an animal fight, but it's not a federal crime to induce someone to watch people fighting, there's something wrong with the priorities of people who think like that."
Human fights are consensual, while animal fights are not. Animal fights are blood sports that often end in the death of one animal. In addition, animal fighting can harm humans, as people have had their pets stolen for fighting, and dogs bred to fight aggressively have attacked humans. In light of these differences, we believe that animal fighting is clearly wrong, and a separate issue from consensual, non-lethal fights between two humans. We urge you to reconsider your position on dog fights and all fights involving animals. Thank you for taking the time to read and consider our petition.
