Marino Receives Humane Society Award

WASHINGTON -- U.S. Rep. Tom Marino, PA-10, was recently honored by the Humane Society of the United States and Humane Society Legislative Fund at an awards reception in Washington. Marino received the Legislative Leader Award for his leadership on animal protection legislation in 2011. There are 29,584 supporters of The Humane Society in the 10th Congressional District, according to the national organization.

Marino, along with U.S. Rep. Betty Sutton, OH-13, last year introduced legislation that makes it a federal offense to attend an organized animal fight and imposes additional penalties for taking minors to such events. HR 2492, the Animal Fighting Spectator Prohibition Act of 2011, complements state laws that address spectators at animal fights and takes it a step further by penalizing adults who expose children to these heinous acts.

The Marino-Sutton bill is a bipartisan effort (Marino is a Republican, Sutton a Democrat) that imposes federal misdemeanor penalties for knowing attendance and felony penalties for causing a minor to attend. The law would not apply to individuals who are not aware that they are attending an animal fight or to situations where two animals fight without provocation by animal fighting organizers.

###