The days when one could slyly slip down to a basement, enjoy a beer, put a couple hundred bucks down, and gather around a ring to watch two dogs maul each other to death may soon become an activity worth more than a slap on the wrist. The Washington Times reports that a bill going before the D.C. City Council today proposes to increase penalties for attending a dog fight from a misdemeanor to a felony, with a maximum five years imprisonment.

Reports of dog fights have decreased in the past few years, but recent incidents — namely, the allegations against NFL quarterback Michael Vick and his participation in the events in Virginia — make this a politically opportune time to send such a bill in for consideration. Participating in a dog fight (i.e. owning the dog or organizing the event) is illegal in every state and D.C. — it’s a felony in 48 — but attending one is only a misdemeanor in most jurisdictions. Just last month, President Bush signed into law the Animal Fighting Prohibition Enforcement Act, which includes a provision making it a felony to participate in interstate commerce for the purpose of dog fighting.

The bill’s supporters argue that the felony provision should be broadened to include attendees because it can be extremely hard to pinpoint the actual participants, when raids immediately send everyone scattering. And in addition to the cruelty aspect, dog fights are a breeding ground for other crimes, including drug trafficking and gambling. Making simply being in the room a more serious offense, supporters hope, will help stamp out these activities, or at least the venues where they’re likely to occur en masse.

Though we’d like to think that disgust with dog fighting is fairly universal, there are still the Clinton Portis’s of the world, so we hope the Council listens carefully to the bill’s supporters and votes that sometimes not everything you do “on your own property” should be legal.

Photo by Eye Captain.