Dade Commission Votes To Stiffen Penalties For "Trunking"

MIAMI (CBSMiami) – In a unanimous vote, the Miami-Dade Commission voted to stiffen penalties for a form of dog fighting known as 'trunking'.

Trunking involves locking two dogs in a car trunk and driving around with music blasting for several minutes while the dogs fight to death in the confined space. The surviving dog is then made to fight again.

The approved resolution, which was proposed by Chairwoman Rebeca Sosa, establishes a $2,000 penalty for trunking - double the standard County fine for animal fighting or baiting. In addition to County fines, people caught engaging in animal fighting could be also be charged criminally with a third-degree felony.

"This is a horrendous practice that takes dog fighting to new depths of cruelty, and we need to do whatever we can to put a stop to it by punishing perpetrators to the fullest extent possible," said Sosa.

Last May, the county's Animal Services Department rescued ten dogs believed to have been used for trunking from Goulds home.

Miami-Dade Animal Services said they received a tip and found the dogs, six pit bulls and four puppies, is urine and feces filled cages behind a residence at 117th Avenue and 220th Street.

Adoption and ownership of pit bulls is illegal in Miami-Dade County.