ASSEMBLY AGRICULTURE COMMITTEE

STATEMENT TO

ASSEMBLY, No. 3231

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

DATED:  JANUARY 27, 2021

      The Assembly Agriculture Committee reports favorably Assembly Bill No. 3231.

      This bill establishes the animal cruelty offense of engaging in, facilitating, or providing the means to engage in, trunk fighting as a crime of the third degree.  It defines trunk fighting as the practice of enclosing two or more animals in the trunk of a motor vehicle for the purpose of the animals attacking each other, and possibly fighting until one or more of the animals are dead.

      A crime of the third degree is punishable by a penalty of three to five years imprisonment, a fine of up to $15,000, or both.

      The bill also provides for the imposition of a civil penalty for a violation in an amount not less than $3,000 nor more than $5,000.