UNION COUNTY, Tenn. — The Union County Clerk’s Office said 94 people went before a judge after being arrested on animal fighting charges after authorities raided a Maynardville fighting ring in January.
Tennessee lawmakers filed a bill to make this kind of animal fighting a felony, but again, the effort failed.
The bill died in the House Criminal Justice Subcommittee, meaning that crime remains a Class-A misdemeanor. Law enforcement across East Tennessee said the decision surprises them. One lawmaker said not all votes were counted in the subcommittee.
Rep. Gloria Johnson, a member of the House Criminal Justice Subcommittee, said viewers could hear there were more lawmakers in favor of the bill in the video of the meeting. That's not how it turned out.
Senator Jon Lunberg said he believes cockfighting should be a felony because it attracts other illegal behavior.
"Frankly, I'm disappointed in that,” Lunberg said. "Tennessee has been a magnet for attracting cockfighters. That is not the kind of economic development we need in the state.”
District Attorney Jimmy Dunn represents Cocke County — a place that's seen cockfighting firsthand.
"It promotes gambling, it promotes alcohol, prostitution, organized crime," Dunn said. "It's not a pleasant sight. To me, it's not a pleasant sight."
He said during his first term as DA, the Federal Bureau of Investigation took down a cockfighting operation. Dunn says he will never forget it.
"At that time in my life, I saw people including children that had blood on their clothing,” Dunn said. "If you are in a ring or you're in a building where animals are fighting, it's a brutal thing."
He said it's not his job to decide what is right or wrong but to enforce the law.
"My feelings do not enter into this. I enforce the laws that have been enforced by Tennessee Legislature," he said.