Dogfighting penalties are about to get a little tougher in Georgia.
Governor Sonny Perdue is expected to sign legislation Tuesday that will make it a crime to attend dog fights and to breed the animals for fighting.
Animal rights groups have labeled Georgia's dogfighting laws among the weakest in the nation and have been pushing for several years to beef them up. They faced opposition from some rural state lawmakers who worried it could restrict hunting dogs.
But the effort gained fresh momentum this year following Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick's guilty plea to dogfighting charges.
Perdue is a dog owner and former veterinarian. He called Vick's admission that he executed dogs and participated in a brutal dogfighting ring "heinous."
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