Sponsors (19)
The bill gives stronger civil tools to stop and deter animal fighting and to curb trafficking of fighting birds, but it delays or limits some private enforcement, authorizes property forfeiture with possible severe economic consequences, and imposes transport restrictions that may burden carriers and shippers.
Local and state law enforcement and private citizens can obtain court-ordered injunctions and recover litigation and expert fees, making it easier to stop ongoing animal‑fighting operations and lowering financial barriers to enforcement.
The bill authorizes civil forfeiture of real property used to facilitate animal fighting, creating a stronger deterrent and a mechanism to disgorge assets used in illegal operations.
Postal workers, interstate carriers, law enforcement, and the public benefit from a prohibition on transporting roosters by mail or interstate carriers, which reduces cross‑jurisdictional trafficking of fighting birds and associated animal‑welfare and public‑safety harms.
Private citizens face a 60‑day waiting period after notice and are barred from suing if the Secretary or the United States is already prosecuting the same violation, delaying or limiting immediate private enforcement against active animal‑fighting operations.
Civil forfeiture of real property can impose severe economic losses on owners and leaseholders (potentially before a final judicial determination), exposing individuals to significant financial risk.
The ban on transporting roosters through the mail or interstate carriers may burden legitimate shippers and carriers and complicate compliance for postal services and businesses without clear exemptions or guidance.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Expands the Animal Welfare Act to ban gambling on animal fighting, bar USPS/interstate transport of roosters for fighting, create a citizen-suit remedy, and add civil seizure and property forfeiture.
Introduced April 10, 2025 by John Neely Kennedy · Last progress April 10, 2025
Expands the Animal Welfare Act to define “rooster” and to make it illegal to gamble on animal fighting ventures and to use the Postal Service or other interstate means to transport roosters for fighting. The bill also creates new civil enforcement tools: it lets any person sue to stop violations (with 60 days’ notice), authorizes courts to fine violators in those suits, permits the Attorney General to intervene, and allows awards of litigation costs. It adds civil and administrative seizure authority for people found to have sponsored or exhibited animals in fighting ventures, including forfeiture of real property used to commit or facilitate violations, and makes technical adjustments to related federal law language.