Sponsors (22)
Expands animal-fighting prohibitions to ban gambling on fights, bar mail/interstate transport of roosters, create citizen suits, civil fines, and forfeiture remedies.
Official title: Amend the Animal Welfare Act to provide for greater protection of roosters, and for other purposes.
Introduced April 10, 2025 by John Neely Kennedy · Last progress April 10, 2025
The bill strengthens enforcement against animal fighting by giving authorities and private parties stronger stopping power and financial remedies, but it delays some private suits, restricts private enforcement when the government is acting, and raises the risk of significant economic losses through civil forfeiture and transport-compliance burdens.
Local and state law enforcement and private citizens gain stronger legal tools — immediate court orders to stop ongoing animal-fighting operations, authority for courts to award litigation costs and expert fees, and civil forfeiture of real property used to facilitate fighting — making it easier to halt operations and deter future violations.
Prohibits transporting roosters by mail or interstate carriers for fighting, reducing cross-jurisdictional trafficking of fighting birds and limiting the spread of animal-fighting networks across state lines.
Owners, leaseholders, or others whose property is used in animal fighting face civil forfeiture of real property, which can produce severe economic losses even before a final judicial determination.
Private individuals must wait 60 days after notice before filing suit, delaying immediate legal action against active animal-fighting operations and potentially allowing ongoing harm during the waiting period.
Citizen suits are barred if the Secretary or the United States is already prosecuting the same violation, limiting private enforcement and reducing the ability of citizens to act when government action is ongoing or insufficient.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Expands federal animal-fighting law to cover roosters older than six months, makes it illegal to gamble on animal fighting ventures, and bars using the Postal Service or interstate transportation to move roosters for fighting. It creates new civil enforcement tools including citizen suits with injunctions and civil fines, administrative seizure and forfeiture remedies (including real property used to facilitate violations), and procedures for notice, venue, and government intervention. The bill updates definitions in the Animal Welfare Act, adjusts statutory language, and adds penalties and remedies intended to make enforcement easier and broaden private enforcement alongside federal action.