COLUMBIA, S.C. - People convicted of cockfighting would be charged with a felony and face five years in prison and a $5,000 fine under a bill that cleared the House Judiciary Committee on Monday.

Currently cockfighting is a misdemeanor with a punishment of 30 days in jail and a $100 fine.

South Carolina is one of 17 states where cockfighting is a misdemeanor. It's a felony in 31 states.

House Judiciary Chairman Jim Harrison, R-Columbia, said the legislation could have failed in his committee, but the turnout of cockfighting enthusiasts changed people's minds.

There were people wanting to keep the $100 fine who were "taking the position that it was a cost of doing business," Harrison said.

People raising and fighting birds said they couldn't be sure their birds were "genetically pure" unless they tested them with fighting. Testing means "putting them in a pen and letting them fight to the death, said Trey Walker, spokesman for Attorney General Henry McMaster.

During a subcommittee hearing, one of the advocates of keeping the law unchanged told legislators how he kept and transported fighting birds. McMaster's staff was alarmed enough to tell the subcommittee that the man was incriminating himself with his public admissions, Walker said.

Apart from the fines and prison time, cockfighting, as well as any other form of animal fighting, would become far more expensive pursuit under the bill. The legislation allows law enforcement to seize any property tied to those crimes - from a cage and pickup truck to a barn and a farm.

Animal fighting grew into a big issue during the past year as the state's agriculture commissioner was charged after a federal crackdown on an Aiken cockfighting ring. In January, Charles Sharpe gave up his office and pleaded guilty to lying to a federal officer and taking a $10,000 bribe to protect a cockfighting ring.