If the tragic dogfighting case involving football star Michael Vick can be said to have anything resembling a silver lining, maybe this is it.

The Humane Society of the United States traveled to Florida's capital this week to unveil a new national reward program targeting animal fighting. The program -- which will offer up to $5,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of any person involved in illegal dogfighting or cockfighting -- is funded by the donations that poured in after Vick's arrest last year. The suspended Atlanta Falcons quarterback is now serving 23 months in federal prison for his role in an interstate dogfighting ring based at his Virginia kennel.

Joining HSUS at a press conference in Tallahassee, state Attorney General Bill McCollum said the award would be "an important combative tool." Also attending the press conference was Winston, a pit bull terrier reportedly used as dogfighting bait by his previous owner, who awaits sentencing after pleading guilty to 10 counts of animal fighting and four counts of animal cruelty, the Associated Press reports:

Amy Raddar, an animal shelter volunteer, has adopted Winston. She said he gets along well with her four children, two cats and four other dogs, including two more pit bull terriers.

"Knowing him and his gentle soul, I think he probably wasn't mean enough to be the top fighting dog," she said. "So I think they used him to train their other dogs."

(Photo of Bill McCollum and Winston from the Florida Attorney General's Web site)

Labels: dogfighting, Florida, friday dogblogging, Humane Society of the United States

Virginia lawmakers are giving prosecutors a powerful new tool to crack down on the brutal practice of dogfighting. Earlier this month, they passed a bill adding the crime to others covered under the state Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, which has been used in the past against criminal enterprises involving drugs, gambling and child pornography.

Making dogfighting a RICO crime gives Virginia prosecutors enhanced investigatory powers as well as more generous statute limitations, tougher sentences, bigger fines, the ability to "seize and freeze" a defendant's assets before conviction, and forfeiture of any gains. Written by the national nonprofit Animal Legal Defense Fund, the legislation was shepherded through the assembly by state Sen. W. Roscoe Reynolds. ALDF Executive Director Stephen Wells says the new law "sends a very strong message to the dogfighting community."

The move comes after authorities busted a Virginia dogfighting operation last year involving former Atlanta Falcons football star Michael Vick, who's now serving a 23-month sentence in federal prison. Vick's co-defendant Tony Taylor was released from prison this week after completing his two-month sentence, the lightest of the four due to his cooperation with federal officials.

Virginia is not the only state that's getting tougher on dogfighting: Georgia lawmakers recently passed a bill that stiffens penalties for dogfighting and that makes it illegal to be a spectator at a dogfight. The measure also outlaws owning, breeding, purchasing, or transporting a dog for the purpose of fighting or baiting. And at the federal level, Congress last year passed the Animal Fighting Prohibition Enforcement Act, which makes it a felony to organize a dog fight.

(Photo of a fight-scarred pit bull courtesy of the Louisiana SPCA)

Labels: dogfighting, friday dogblogging, Georgia, Michael Vick, pit bulls, virginia