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Current as of January 01, 2024 | Updated by Findlaw Staff
(a) Any person who: (1) organizes, sponsors, conducts, stages, promotes, is employed at, collects an admission fee for, or bets or wagers any money or other valuable consideration on the outcome of an exhibition between two or more animals of fighting, baiting, or causing injury to each other; (2) any person who owns, trains, buys, sells, offers to buy or sell, steals, transports, or possesses any animal with the intent that it engage in any such exhibition; (3) any person who knowingly allows any animal used for such fighting or baiting to be kept, boarded, housed, or trained on, or transported in, any property owned or controlled by him; (4) any person who owns, manages, or operates any facility and knowingly allows that facility to be kept or used for the purpose of fighting or baiting any animal; (5) any person who knowingly or recklessly permits any act described in this subsection, to be done on any premises under his or her ownership or control, or who aids or abets that act; or (6) any person who is knowingly present as a spectator at any such exhibition, is guilty of a felony, punishable by a fine of not more than the amount set forth in § 22-3571.01, imprisonment not to exceed 5 years, or both. The court may also impose any penalties listed in § 22-1001(a).
(b) Repealed.
(c) For the purposes of this section, the term:
(1) “Animal” means a vertebrate other than a human, including, but not limited to, dogs and cocks.
(2) “Baiting” means to attack with violence, to provoke, or to harass an animal with one or more animals for the purpose of training an animal for, or to cause an animal to engage in, fights with or among other animals.
(3) “Fighting” means an organized event wherein there is a display of combat between 2 or more animals in which the fighting, killing, maiming, or injuring of an animal is a significant feature, or main purpose, of the event.
Cite this article: FindLaw.com - District of Columbia Code Division IV. Criminal Law and Procedure and Prisoners. § 22-1006.01. Penalty for engaging in animal fighting. - last updated January 01, 2024 | https://codes.findlaw.com/dc/division-iv-criminal-law-and-procedure-and-prisoners/dc-code-sect-22-1006-01/
FindLaw Codes may not reflect the most recent version of the law in your jurisdiction. Please verify the status of the code you are researching with the state legislature before relying on it for your legal needs.
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