---
type: "Bill"
title: "Establishes trunk fighting as animal cruelty offense and crime of the third degree."
description: "Establishes trunk fighting as animal cruelty offense and crime of the third degree."
jurisdiction: "us/states/nj"
legislature: "New Jersey Legislature"
session: "219"
identifier: "S 975"
citation: "New Jersey S 975 (219)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["ANIMAL CRUEL"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Dancer, Ronald S.", "Houghtaling, Eric", "Kean, Thomas H.", "Singleton, Troy", "Swain, Lisa"]
version_count: 1
action_count: 9
vote_count: 4
first_action: "2020-01-30T05:00:00+00:00"
last_action: "2021-05-11T04:00:00+00:00"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/f94de144-d49f-44d4-a18f-e35d8d159f68"
source_url: "http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/downloads.asp"
source_hash: "eb09eb6dab5e84d53160a46521b3f18aeafab24e653511bea2f8d11406a2052e"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-nj"]
---

# New Jersey S 975 (219) — Establishes trunk fighting as animal cruelty offense and crime of the third degree.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Introduced Version** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/2020/Bills/S1000/975_I1.HTM)

## Votes

- Reported favorably out of committee — **5–0** (pass) · upper
- 3RDG FINAL PASSAGE — **72–0** (pass) · lower
- 3RDG FINAL PASSAGE — **33–0** (pass) · upper
- Reported favorably out of committee — **12–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Dancer, Ronald S. — primary (person)
- Houghtaling, Eric — primary (person)
- Kean, Thomas H. — primary (person)
- Singleton, Troy — primary (person)
- Swain, Lisa — primary (person)
- Addiego, Dawn Marie — cosponsor (person)
- Benson, Daniel R. — cosponsor (person)
- Catalano, John — cosponsor (person)
- Clifton, Robert D. — cosponsor (person)
- Diegnan, Patrick J. — cosponsor (person)
- Downey, Joann — cosponsor (person)
- Dunn, Aura K. — cosponsor (person)
- Freiman, Roy — cosponsor (person)
- Gopal, Vin — cosponsor (person)
- Greenstein, Linda R. — cosponsor (person)
- Holzapfel, James W. — cosponsor (person)
- Johnson, Gordon M. — cosponsor (person)
- McGuckin, Gregory P. — cosponsor (person)
- McKeon, John F. — cosponsor (person)
- McKnight, Angela V. — cosponsor (person)
- O'Scanlon, Declan J. — cosponsor (person)
- Reynolds-Jackson, Verlina — cosponsor (person)
- Scharfenberger, Gerry — cosponsor (person)
- Space, Parker — cosponsor (person)
- Vainieri Huttle, Valerie — cosponsor (person)
- Wirths, Harold J. — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2020-01-30T05:00:00+00:00** Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Environment and Energy Committee `introduction, referral-committee`
- **2020-10-19T04:00:00+00:00** Reported out of Senate Committee, 2nd Reading `committee-passage`
- **2020-10-19T04:00:00+00:00** Referred to Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee `referral-committee`
- **2021-01-21T05:00:00+00:00** Reported out of Senate Committee, 2nd Reading `committee-passage`
- **2021-01-28T05:00:00+00:00** Passed Senate (33-0) `passage`
- **2021-01-29T05:00:00+00:00** Received in the Assembly without Reference, 2nd Reading
- **2021-03-25T04:00:00+00:00** Substituted for A3231
- **2021-03-25T04:00:00+00:00** Passed Assembly (Passed Both Houses) (72-0-0) `passage`
- **2021-05-11T04:00:00+00:00** Approved P.L.2021, c.83. `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/f94de144-d49f-44d4-a18f-e35d8d159f68`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official New Jersey legislature records).