Lt. Gov. Burt Jones informed Channel 2′s Richard Elliot that he wishes to extend Georgia racketeering laws to consist of dog combating.
“It just goes along with kind of your criminal gang activity,” Jones said.
Jones is proposing bringing dog battling under the RICO statute — the Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act — permitting district attorneys to pursue more individuals utilizing a racketeering charge if they’re connected with combating dogs.
“We’re looking to expand that. That statute will capture those dog fighting rings because a lot of the same players that are involved in that activity are involved in some other pretty horrible things as well,” Jones said.
TRENDING STORIES:
Milledgeville Republican state Sen. Rick Williams is bring the costs into the Senate.
“I think it’s a pretty bad problem,” Williams said.
He informed Elliot that broadening Georgia’s racketeering laws to consist of dog battling will provide district attorneys another tool to pursue those sort of criminal offenses and another method to pursue gang activity.
“This will also give them a way to put those people in jail, behind bars. No one should use animals, helpless animals hurting each other, or dogfighting, as entertainment,” Williams said.
Dog combating belongs to the lieutenant guv’s public safety package he means to present into the Senate.
IN OTHER NEWS: