Baiting or fighting animals
It is a crime in Missouri to bait or fight animals. This includes setting up, watching, advertising, or charging money for animal fights. It also covers selling or owning sharp leg attachments used in cockfighting, like gaffs and slashers. This crime is a class E felony.
Classifications stated in the statute. Actual outcomes vary.
578.173. or fighting animals — . — 1. A person commits the of baiting or fighting animals if he or she:
(1) Baits or fights animals;
(2) Permits baiting or animal fighting to be done on any under his or her charge or control;
(3) Promotes, conducts, or stages a baiting or fight between two or more animals;
(4) Advertises a baiting or fight between two or more animals;
(5) Collects any admission fee for a baiting or fight between two or more animals;
(6) attends the baiting or fighting of animals;
(7) Knowingly sells, offers for sale, ships, or transports any animal which has been bred or trained to bait or fight another animal;
(8) Owns or possesses any of the implements, commonly known as gaffs and slashers, or any other sharp implement designed to be attached to the leg of a ; or
(9) , sells, barters, or exchanges any of the cockfighting implements, commonly known as gaffs and slashers, or any other sharp implement designed to be attached to the leg of a gamecock.
2. The offense of baiting or fighting animals is a .
(Adopted by Initiative, A, § B, November 3, 1998, A.L. 2014 S.B. 491)
Effective 1-01-17
(2000) Proposition A did not violate constitutional requirements of single subject and clear . United Gamefowl Breeders Ass'n. of Missouri v. Nixon, 19 S.W.3d 137 (Mo.banc).
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Legal information, not legal advice. Always confirm with the official source at revisor.mo.gov.