New legislation addresses violent entertainment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 2008:

Nebraska governor Dave Heineman on April 16, 2008 endorsed
into law a bill to ban horse tripping, a common event at
charreada-style rodeos. The language that “No person shall
intentionally trip or cause to fall, or lasso or rope the legs of,
any equine by any means for the purpose of entertainment, sport,
practice, or contest” makes the Nebraska law “the strongest such law
in the nation, far better than California’s,” or those of Texas,
New Mexico, Maine, Florida, Oklahoma, and Illinois, said Action
for Animals founder Eric Mills. A bill modeled on the California law
cleared the Arizona house of representatives on March 30.

Georgia governor Sonny Perdue, a former veterinarian, on
May 6, 2008 signed into law a bill criminalizing attendance at a dog
fight, breeding dogs to fight, or possessing a dog with the
intention of having it fight. The bill received a publicity boost
from the 2007 dogfighting-related arrest and conviction of former
Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick, acknowledged Best Friends
Animal Society chief executive Paul Berry. Associated Press writer
Shannon McCaffrey credited Best Friends with helping to write the new
law. Vick “certainly helped us put it over the goal line,” agreed
Georgia state senator Chip Rogers, the bill sponsor.