Sponsors (148)
Official title: To amend the Animal Welfare Act to provide for greater protection of roosters, and for other purposes.
Introduced June 12, 2025 by Donald J. Bacon · Last progress June 12, 2025
The bill strengthens federal and citizen enforcement and deterrents against animal fighting (criminalizing gambling, banning transport, authorizing fines and citizen suits) at the cost of increased federal reach that risks property forfeiture, additional litigation burdens on local governments, potential impacts on legitimate poultry commerce, and strains on prosecutorial resources.
Local and state governments — and private citizens — can sue to enjoin animal fighting operations, making it easier to stop abuses when agencies fail to act.
Law enforcement and communities: making gambling on animal fighting a federal crime reduces a major financial incentive that funds and enables these illegal activities.
Law enforcement and postal services: banning use of the U.S. mail and interstate commerce to transport roosters for fighting limits cross-jurisdictional movement that sustains these ventures.
Homeowners, renters, and property owners risk forfeiture of real estate used to facilitate animal fighting, which could lead to loss of homes or business property.
Local governments and taxpayers may face burdensome litigation and legal costs from expanded private citizen lawsuits (including suits triggered after a 60‑day notice), straining municipal resources.
Small poultry businesses and postal workers could be unintentionally harmed if expanded federal authority over mail and interstate transport is applied too broadly, disrupting legitimate commerce.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Defines “rooster,” bans gambling on animal fighting ventures, expands interstate-commerce coverage, creates citizen suits with fines up to $5,000, and permits seizure of real property used to facilitate violations.
Makes it a federal crime to gamble on animal fighting ventures involving chickens by adding a definition of “rooster” to the Animal Welfare Act, bans gambling on such ventures, clarifies that transporting roosters in interstate commerce can violate the law, and creates new civil enforcement tools including citizen suits, fines (up to $5,000 per violation), and authority to seize real property used to facilitate violations. Also updates statutory headings, adds an explicit conflict-with-State-law clause for the animal fighting provision, and inserts technical language into postal law.