Here's a news item from the Associated Press:  BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Idaho lawmakers could make running a cockfighting operation a felony, two years after passing a similar law against dogfighting. A bill targeting this blood sport was introduced Thursday in the Senate. Anybody found guilty would face up to five years in prison and $50,000 in fines, if it passes. Idaho is among 11 states where cockfighting remains a misdemeanor, according to the Humane Society of the United States. Cockfighting rings, while rare, have been discovered in Idaho, including in a 2008 raid on a dairy farm near Wendell where authorities seized 20 fighting cocks after an anonymous tip.

Sen. Tim Corder, a Mountain Home Republican, worked with the Humane Society and livestock groups on this bill, which also boosts punishment for animal cruelty and torture, while leaving those crimes a misdemeanor. Normal animal husbandry or slaughter practices still would be protected.

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