Should the penalty for dogfighting be as tough as the penalty for child abuse?

​That's the question lawmakers are wrangling with while considering tougher penalties for dogfighting. The debate isn’t whether the penalties should be tougher, but how much to increase them.

The original bill from Sen. Bob Dearing, D-Natchez, would have punished organizers with a fine of $1,000 per dog and a one-year prison sentence per dog up to to 25 years.

During a Senate judicial committee meeting, the bill was amended to increase the current penalty from one to three years in prison to one to 10 years in prison.

Still, some lawmakers argue the maximum 10 years in prison would be too stiff, saying it would be on the same level as the penalty for child abuse.

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“Are we equating dogfighting with child abuse?” Rep. Adrienne Wooten, D-Ridgeland, asked.

A pending amendment in the House would water down the bill further. Some lawmakers argue that there should be a graduated penalty for dogfighting

The pending amendment proposed a first and second conviction would be misdemeanors with a maximum punishment of a $1,000 fine and/or six months in jail. It would become a felony upon third and subsequent convictions, with a maximum punishment of two years in prison and/or a $5,000 fine for each offense.

The bill is expected to come up on the House floor next week. If the dogfighting bill is passed in the House, it will ultimately end up in a House-Senate conference committee for each body to agree on language in a final bill.

House Judiciary B Chairman Andy Gipson, R-Braxton, who will handle the bill on the House floor, asked on his Facebook page, “Would you support a bill that had criminal penalties for 'dog fighting' that were higher than the current criminal penalties for child abuse, or child trafficking?"

Most of those responding to Gipson’s Facebook post said no.

One of Gipson’s responders said, “Framing this law against the child abuse law isn’t fair. It’s a red herring argument. Perhaps the penalty length for the child abuse law should be longer.”

Several people responding to Gipson said they believe penalties for child abuse laws should be increased.

Gipson said the minimum penalty is five years in prison for some child abuse cases, but Gipson and others said increasing child abuse penalties couldn’t be done with the Senate bill since it deals with animals, not humans.

But there have been unsuccessful efforts by lawmakers to increase child abuse laws in the last five years.

Getting back to the penalties for dogfighting, Gipson said he is working on a compromise for language in the bill when it comes up on the House floor.

Sen. Angela Hill, R-Picayune, has filed bills over the last several years seeking to make aggravated animal cruelty a felony as well as allow law enforcement to charge offenders with multiple counts of animal abuse. Her measures have failed to pass the Legislature.

Hill and others have said there is evidence to support that people who abuse cats and dogs will typically harm people as well.

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