WASHINGTON —  The House passed legislation Monday clamping down on animal fighting, agreeing to tougher penalties that would make it a felony to transport animals across state lines for fighting.

The bill passed 368 to 39 following floor debate in which no member spoke out against it. That was a sharp contrast to a contentious Judiciary Committee meeting last month, in which some anti-abortion lawmakers argued that the legislation elevated the lives of chickens over unborn babies.

"We've been trying to federally criminalize this brutal, inhumane practice of animal fighting for the past several Congresses," said the bill's sponsor, Rep. Elton Gallegly, R-Calif.

He said that the current misdemeanor penalty for transporting animals across state lines for fighting is too weak.

"Misdemeanor penalties simply don't provide a meaningful deterrent," Gallegly said. "Animal fighters consider misdemeanor penalties as a slap on the wrist, or merely the cost of doing business."

Rep. Earl Blumenauer of Oregon, the chief Democratic sponsor, said, "This is something that has been an area frankly where Congress has shamefully been complicit."

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A Senate version, sponsored by Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., could come up for a vote as soon as this week.

Dogfighting is banned in every state, and New Mexico recently became the 49th state to ban cockfighting, making Louisiana the only state where it's legal. Critics call cockfights inhumane, because the contest features two roosters fitted with blades or gaffs on their legs fighting until one is badly wounded or dead.

In the last congressional session, Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., refused to bring a similar bill up for a vote in the Judiciary Committee, which he chaired at the time. When Democrats took over the House, the new chairman, Michigan Democrat John Conyers, quickly brought up the legislation for a committee vote, but not before Sensenbrenner tried unsuccessfully to attach an anti-abortion amendment to it.

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On the Net:

Information on the bill, H.R. 137, can be found at http://thomas.loc.gov/

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