Tennessee has the weakest cockfighting laws in the nation and it doesn’t appear that will change any time soon. State legislators have routinely declined to get tough on cockfighting.

In recent years, state Rep. Jon Lundberg, R-Bristol, has seen his efforts to return cockfighting to a felony offense and to strengthen penalties for attending a cockfight stall in the state House Agriculture Committee.

Legislators in Nashville have refused to crack down on cockfighting even after hearing testimony from federal agents who say Tennessee is part of the infamous “Cockfighting Corridor,” where criminals who engage in this blood sport flock to ply their horrifying trade.

An FBI agent also told legislators a few years ago that the operator of a busted cockfighting pit in Cocke County boasted that he bribed a state lawmaker nearly 20 years ago to lower the penalty for cockfighting from a felony to a misdemeanor. Since that time, Tennessee has seen its reputation as the cockfighting capitol of the South grow.

There’s an obvious link between cockfighting and interstate gambling.

And if that is not enough illegal activity to justify the attention of state lawmakers, how about drug trafficking and contraband?

Cockfighting is not a harmless diversion. It’s a barbaric crime that deserves a greater penalty than a slap on the wrist.

That’s why the Humane Society of the United States pays a $5,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of cockfighters.

To report a cockfighting pit in your neighborhood, call 202-452-1100, or go to www.humanesociety.org/cockfighting to learn more.