Dear editor,

Congress is considering an important bill not only to stop malicious cruelty, but to make our communities safer. The FIGHT Act, S. 1529, by Senator John Kennedy, R-La., and H.R. 2742, by Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., would bolster federal enforcement efforts to crack down on the scourges of illegal dogfighting and cockfighting.

Already, U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin has cosponsored FIGHT. I hope Senator Ron Johnson does, too. U.S. Representatives Derek Van Orden, R-Prairie du Chien, Glenn Grothman, R-Glenbeulah, and Scott Fitzgerald, R-Clyman, have cosponsored the House bill, and Rep. Tom Tiffany, who represents us in the U.S. House in northwest Wisconsin, should join them. It’s the right thing to do.

Dogfighting and cockfighting are barbaric and often bound up with a wide range of criminal practices. U.S.-based cockfighters consort with Mexican cartels and Filippino organized crime syndicates, with those two nations actively trading fighting animals with U.S.-based traffickers. The smuggling of cockfighting birds from Mexico was the cause of 10 of 15 outbreaks of virulent Newcastle disease to hit the United States in recent decades, with just three outbreaks costing U.S. taxpayers more than $1 billion.

There are 500 organizations and agencies that endorse the FIGHT Act – from National District Attorneys Association to the Iowa Sheriffs’ Association to the United Egg Producers. The National Chicken Council, the trade association for commercial chicken producer-processors, as long ago as 2004 had urged Congress “to pass a bill to crack down on cockfighting” and called it an “inhumane practice that presents a continuing threat to the health of commercial flocks.”

Please, Senators Johnson and Tiffany, swing behind these important bills to protect agriculture from bird flu and other disease threats, to stop the favored recreation of drug cartels, and to stop a form of inexcusable animal cruelty.

Brian Giles of Marshfield

Editor’s note: Wausau Pilot & Review gladly publishes commentary from readers, residents and candidates for local offices. The views of readers and columnists are independent of this newspaper and do not necessarily reflect the views of Wausau Pilot & Review. To submit, email [email protected] or mail to 500 N. Third St., Suite 208-8, Wausau, Wis. 54403.