Rep. Steve King defends dogfighting

[Puppycow]

Rep. Steve King Defends Dog Fighting

During a tele-townhall late last week, Rep. Steve King (R-IA) fielded a question about his opposition to animal rights and recently introduced legislation that would undermine local standards preventing animal torture. “It’s wrong to rate animals above human beings,” he told the questioner. To make his point, King argued that “there’s something wrong” for society to make it a “federal crime to watch animals fight” but “it’s not a federal crime to induce somebody to watch people fighting.”

KING: When the legislation that passed in the farm bill that says that it’s a federal crime to watch animals fight or to induce someone else to watch an animal fight but it’s not a federal crime to induce somebody to watch people fighting, there’s something wrong with the priorities of people that think like that.​

. . .

Unfortunately, King is a longtime advocate for legalizing dogfighting, cockfighting, and other forms of animal torture.

Words fail me. Just click the link for a picture of a dogfighting victim, or do a Google image search. One picture makes the argument better than I can. Dogfighting is cruel, evil and abusive, and has no place in a civilized society. Why can't he understand that?

 

[Monketi Ghost]

paging Whoopi Goldberg...

 

[G6000]

When it comes to why a boxing match is legal and a dogfight is illegal, I wonder if King is familiar with the term "informed consent". If not, keep him away from young children.

I am also pretty sure boxing matches are not staged as fights intended to end in maiming or death.

 

[Cain]

So what's next -- should we give dogs the right to vote? And I don't think last night's dinner offered "informed consent" either. Go ahead guys, have fun being on the same side as PeTA!



ETA: Hey everybody, look at how many kittens I tried to kill at once!
<--------------------------------------------------------

 

[angrysoba]

Did you know that dogfighting is still legal in Japan. But, being Japan, it is a much gentler form of dogfighting. It's rare but it goes on in Shikoku:

Dog fighting evolved in Kōchi to a form that is called tōken (闘犬?). Under modern rules, dogs fight in a fenced ring until one of the dogs barks, yelps, or loses the will to fight. Owners are allowed to throw in the towel, and matches are stopped if a doctor judges it is too dangerous. Draws usually occur when both dogs will not fight or both dogs fight until the time limit. There are various other rules, including one that specifies that a dog will lose if it attempts to copulate. Champion dogs are called yokozuna, as in sumo. Dog fighting is not banned at a nationwide level, but the prefectures of Tokyo, Kanagawa, Fukui, Ishikawa, Toyama and Hokkaidō all ban the practice.[9] Currently, most fighting dogs in Japan are of the Tosa breed which is native to Kōchi.[10] Dog fighting does have strong links to gambling in Japan.

 

[Montag451]

Cock fighting is very common in Peru.

Onw of my closest friends here is an ex Bull fighter who has been the peruvian champion fighting cock beeeder. Dog fights go on but he thinks they are cruel.

They even have specialist spur makers for the cocks. Mad.

 

[NightStar76]

I'm not sure how christian fundamentalists like Rick Santorum, crazy libertarians like Ron Paul, and soulless technocrats like Mitt Romney even manage to share a party as it stands, and now we need to add people who support dog-fighting to the mix? And they say the Democrats have a big tent.

 

[fuelair]

Rep. Steve King Defends Dog Fighting



Words fail me. Just click the link for a picture of a dogfighting victim, or do a Google image search. One picture makes the argument better than I can. Dogfighting is cruel, evil and abusive, and has no place in a civilized society. Why can't he understand that?

Because he is cruel, evil and abusive? That would be my best assumption. Or, possibly, he is involved in that business and it is just business as usual ( i.e. he is cruel, evil and abusive - and greedy).

 

[Tsukasa Buddha]

Disgusting. At first I thought he was just trying to make a stretched anti-animal rights argument about how "they" prefer animals over humans, but no. His whole record on animal rights is here.

 

[Alferd_Packer]

So what's next -- should we give dogs the right to vote? And I don't think last night's dinner offered "informed consent" either. Go ahead guys, have fun being on the same side as PeTA!



ETA: Hey everybody, look at how many kittens I tried to kill at once!
<--------------------------------------------------------

every time you spank the monkey, a kitten dies.

 

[daredelvis]

So it appears that there are two GOP idiots named Steve King in congress. At first, I thought you were talking about the islamaphobic, IRA loving Steve King from NY, but I see this is another idiot named Steve King. Pretty common name (amongst idiots it appears).

Daredelvis

 

[Unabogie]

So it appears that there are two GOP idiots named Steve King in congress. At first, I thought you were talking about the islamaphobic, IRA loving Steve King from NY, but I see this is another idiot named Steve King. Pretty common name (amongst idiots it appears).

Daredelvis

Peter King?

 

[BenBurch]

So, it's OK to strap your dog to the roof of the car, still, right?

 

[Caper]

I can't describe how stupid a statement that was.... I'm trying to find a different side here.... I can't.

 

[Tony]

Are you guys really surprised? Conservatives tend to represent the white-trash segment of the electorate. This is totally in character for someone who represents such people. If any surprise is to be had in this, it is that he is so open with this view.

 

[Foolmewunz]

Are you guys really surprised? Conservatives tend to represent the white-trash segment of the electorate. This is totally in character for someone who represents such people. If any surprise is to be had in this, it is that he is so open with this view.

I think dogfighting has mutli-colored trash as an audience. I'm finding it difficult to imagine an Iowan White Republican showing up in East New York for the Pit Bull matches.

The guy's an idiot. It doesn't really do any good and is unnecessary to determine which color of an idiot he is.

 

[Arcade22]

Dogfighting is cruel, evil and abusive, and has no place in a civilized society.

Amazing argumentative skills. Got any other arguments from platitudes?

 

[Polaris]

Amazing argumentative skills. Got any other arguments from platitudes?

Got any arguments that dog fighting isn't cruel, evil and abusive?

 

[cwalner]

When it comes to why a boxing match is legal and a dogfight is illegal, I wonder if King is familiar with the term "informed consent". If not, keep him away from young children.

I am also pretty sure boxing matches are not staged as fights intended to end in maiming or death.

I think that the second point is a much stronger argument than the first. Consider that in most animal fighting the loser is typically maimed or killed. While such tragedies can happen in boxing or MMA, they are the exception, not the norm. I highly doubt that anything remotely similar to the Roman gladiatorial games would be legal (even with informed consent) today in the US any more than dog fighting or cock fighting is.

However, the informed consent does play a small part. Consider the moral outrage over the whole 'Bum Fights' phenomenon.

 

[BenBurch]

Amazing argumentative skills. Got any other arguments from platitudes?

Yeah. I'd happily convict anybody who did this and beg the judge to give him the maximum sentence allowed by law.