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Vick case building momentum for bill

• A state senator has been pushing legislation that would criminalize virtually every activity related to dogfighting.

Dave Williams

ATLANTA — The publicity surrounding the Michael Vick case should be enough to spur passage of a crackdown on dogfighting that has been languishing in the General Assembly, the bill’s chief sponsor said Tuesday.

“With that tragedy comes opportunity,” Sen. Chip Rogers, R-Woodstock, told reporters one day after the suspended Atlanta Falcons quarterback was sentenced to 23 months in federal prison for his involvement in a dogfighting ring run out of a farm he owned in Virginia. “We want to take this opportunity and use that to our benefit.”

Rogers has been pushing legislation for several years that would criminalize virtually every activity related to dogfighting, including training, selling or transporting dogs for purposes of fighting, hosting a dogfighting event or knowingly attending one.

Under current Georgia law, authorities have to catch dogfighting operators in the act to make a case.

Gwinnett County Sheriff Butch Conway, who has a standing offer of $10,000 out of his own pocket for information leading to dogfighting arrests and convictions, said the weakness of the law forced prosecutors recently to drop charges against three suspects in a Snellville case.

“It’s beyond belief that they weren’t involved in dogfighting,” Conway said. “But under the current law, we couldn’t prosecute them.”

Rogers’ bill passed the Senate unanimously this year but didn’t get out of the House committee with jurisdiction over criminal law.

The House panel did approve similar legislation sponsored by Rep. Bobby Reese, R-Sugar Hill. But Reese’s bill didn’t make it to the floor for a vote.

Past efforts to pass dogfighting legislation have been hampered by fears that it would be aimed at hunters.

“This is a law enforcement bill,” Rogers said. “Nowhere in this process do we do anything to interfere with hunting.”

Rogers also made sure to limit his bill to dog-on-dog combat. Previous versions of the legislation included cockfighting, prompting opposition from Georgians who raise roosters for cockfighting in the few states where it is legal.

Rep. Robert Mumford, R-Conyers, the House committee’s vice chairman, predicted that the panel will move a dogfighting bill to the full House early in this winter’s session.

He noted that polls have shown strong public support for the legislature to act.

“I think the Vick situation has really brought the issue to a much wider spectrum of people,” Mumford said. “Everybody wants heavier penalties for dogfighting.”

As for Vick, Rogers said he believes the former No. 1 draft pick is truly sorry for his actions and deserves a second chance after he completes his prison sentence.

“I hope there’s a day we’ll see Michael Vick on the football field again,” Rogers said. “He can become a spokesman on this issue.”

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