| Fight animal cruelty The partnership announced this week between South Carolina Attorney General Henry McMaster and a leading animal protection organization to combat dogfighting and cockfighting in the state warrants strong public support. There should be no place in a civilized society for "entertainment" that revels in cruelty and torture of animals. But if animal cruelty doesn't stir your ire, there are many other reasons to back a crackdown on the blood sports. Surely, law-abiding citizens want to put an end to criminal activities infiltrating their communities. Both the ugly animal fights, and the heavy wagering put on them, are unlawful, not only in the Palmetto State, but in the other 49 states as well. This means only unsavory low-lifes, including the mob and other criminal types, are involved. Animal blood sports, and the gambling that accompanies them, are a growing multibillion-dollar criminal industry. This can be seen in the number of magazines devoted to cockfighting and dogfighting. There were only four such publications in the 1970s; today there are 14, according to the U.S. Humane Society. Note that it is not unlawful to breed or raise fighting animals, or to publish information about them; it only becomes a crime when the creatures are made to fight in the ring. The South Carolina plan calls for Charleston's chapter of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals to raise money for McMaster to hire a prosecutor and the state Department of Law Enforcement to add an investigator to deal, first, with unlawful dogfighting cases and later, when it becomes affordable, with cockfighting. About $150,000 is needed to get the project off the ground. Although the plan picked up momentum in the wake of the SLED and Aiken County Sheriff deputies' raid on a rural cockfighting ring Nov. 22, the early focus will be on the dogfights because they're a felony in South Carolina. Cockfighting is only a misdemeanor. Because felony cases are more serious, they draw more attention from law-enforcers. Hopefully, perhaps in next year's legislative sessions, cockfighting crimes will be upgraded to a felony in both South Carolina and Georgia. There's also a strong movement on Capitol Hill to stiffen federal laws against animal fighting. Last May, for instance, Congress criminalized the sale or export of animals for the specific purpose of organized fighting. Pending legislation would also penalize selling animal fighting paraphernalia. That would damage the bottom line of animal-fighting publications. More and tougher federal laws also deserve support, because they can help on many levels. But it will be state crackdowns that will play the lead role in deterring animal blood sports. South Carolina's law-enforcement partnership with the SPCA is an encouraging move toward that goal.
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