FRANKFORT, Ky.— One lawmaker in Kentucky wants to make cockfighting a crime. He has put forward a bill to include all animals in the state’s dogfighting rules.
“I believe all animal fighting is cruel, and we need to stop it,” Sen. Greg Elkins (R-Winchester) told FOX 56 News.
All 50 states make cockfighting a crime, but Kentucky is one of only a few that only charges it as a misdemeanor. Elkins put forward a plan last year to try to change that, and he has done so again for 2025.
“I believe it is still going on.” We need to stop doing that. “And we need to do everything we can to avoid animal fights, which are just for fun,” Elkins said.
In Casey County earlier this month, Kentucky State Police arrested 54 people at a cockfighting event that was still going on. All of them were charged with second-degree animal abuse, which is a lesser crime. Elkins’ idea would make the punishment worse.
“That means that going to the event and sponsoring would become a class D felony, and you would lose your animal.” “You would also have to pay for what you did,” Elkins said.
SB 39, Elkins’ bill, would protect falconry, which is hunting with trained birds of prey. It would also make it a federal crime to bring a kid to a fight, which is already illegal.
“We stop it with kids, maybe with the next generation.” Elkins said, “We don’t need to worry about it at all.”
The bill is being held up until the Senate Judiciary Committee can hear it.
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