The House Thursday introduced a bill that would make a second conviction for dogfighting a felony.

The sponsor of House Bill 46, Rep. Rosie Berger, R-Big Horn, said she intends to amend the bill in committee to make it felony on first offense.

The Idaho Legislature, meanwhile, passed a bill Thursday that would make it a felony to operate a dogfighting operation.

If the governor signs it, Wyoming will be the lone state where dogfighting is a misdemeanor.

During debate in the Wyoming House Thursday, Rep. Rodney “Pete” Anderson, R-Pine Bluffs, said animal cruelty, including dogfighting, is already a felony.

He called Berger's bill, which makes the crime more explicit in state law, a feel-good measure.

“We're letting the Eastern liberal media control our Legislature,” Anderson said.

The national news media has dedicated much coverage to dogfighting in the wake of the conviction of professional football superstar Michael Vick for running a dogfighting kennel at his property in Virgina.

The coverage probably gave a boost to Berger's bill, which is similar to unsuccessful legislation she sponsored last year.

Berger said she softened the bill this year to accommodate concerns from livestock groups and because penalties for dogfighting would be more severe than for domestic abuse.

But animal advocates pointed out that every other state makes dogfighting a felony, and Berger now intends to amend her bill.

Gov. Dave Freudenthal, in his “State of the State” address Monday, urged legislators to adopt the bill despite the lack of evidence that dogfighting is a problem in Wyoming.

The bill has not been assigned to a committee.