---
type: "Bill"
title: "Dog fighting."
description: "Existing law provides that the crime of being a spectator at a dog fight is a misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding 6 months, or by a fine not to exceed $1,000, or by both that imprisonment and fine."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ca"
legislature: "California Legislature"
session: "20092010"
identifier: "AB 242"
citation: "California AB 242 (20092010)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Dog fighting."]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Nava"]
version_count: 7
action_count: 25
vote_count: 5
first_action: "2009-02-10"
last_action: "2009-10-11"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/50f3af6c-7993-4a01-91bd-24bd95f38f11"
source_url: "http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=200920100AB242"
source_hash: "b8a8532fcc739d7e051b04205329baae8231f530136c0053ff2543f47f115d69"
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-ca"]
---

# California AB 242 (20092010) — Dog fighting.

Existing law provides that the crime of being a spectator at a dog fight is a misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding 6 months, or by a fine not to exceed $1,000, or by both that imprisonment and fine.

## Version chain

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

1. **02/10/09 - Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=200920100AB242&version=20090AB24299INT)
2. **04/13/09 - Amended Assembly** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=200920100AB242&version=20090AB24298AMD)
3. **04/21/09 - Amended Assembly** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=200920100AB242&version=20090AB24297AMD)
4. **06/01/09 - Amended Assembly** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=200920100AB242&version=20090AB24296AMD)
5. **10/11/09 - Chaptered** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=200920100AB242&version=20090AB24294CHP)
6. **AB242** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=200920100AB242)
7. **09/04/09 - Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=200920100AB242&version=20090AB24295ENR)

## Votes

- Assembly 3rd Reading AB242 Nava By Strickland — **pass** (pass) · upper
- Do pass as amended and be re-referred to the Committee on Appropriations. — **pass** (pass) · lower
- Do pass, but re-refer to the Committee on Appropriations. — **pass** (pass) · upper
- AB 242 NAVA Assembly Third Reading — **pass** (pass) · lower
- Do pass as amended. — **pass** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Nava — primary (person)
- Cox — coauthor (person)
- DeSaulnier — coauthor (person)
- Florez — coauthor (person)
- Strickland — coauthor (person)
- Yamada — coauthor (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2009-02-10** Read first time. To print. `reading-1`
- **2009-02-11** From printer. May be heard in committee March 13.
- **2009-03-09** Referred to Com. on PUB. S. `referral-committee`
- **2009-04-13** From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to Com. on PUB. S. Read second time and amended. `amendment-introduction, reading-2, amendment-passage, reading-1`
- **2009-04-13** Re-referred to Com. on PUB. S. `referral-committee`
- **2009-04-20** From committee: Amend, do pass as amended, and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 7. Noes 0.) (April 14). `amendment-introduction, amendment-passage, committee-passage`
- **2009-04-21** Read second time and amended. `amendment-passage, reading-2, reading-1`
- **2009-04-22** Re-referred to Com. on APPR. `referral-committee`
- **2009-05-06** In committee: Set, first hearing. Referred to APPR. suspense file. `referral-committee`
- **2009-05-29** From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended. (Ayes 17. Noes 0.) (May 28). `amendment-introduction, amendment-passage, committee-passage`
- **2009-06-01** Read second time and amended. Ordered returned to second reading. `amendment-passage, reading-2, reading-1`
- **2009-06-02** Read second time. To third reading. `reading-2, reading-1`
- **2009-06-02** Read third time, passed, and to Senate. (Ayes 77. Noes 0. Page 1946.) `reading-3, passage, reading-1`
- **2009-06-03** In Senate. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. `reading-1`
- **2009-06-18** Referred to Com. on PUB. S. `referral-committee`
- **2009-06-29** In committee: Hearing postponed by committee.
- **2009-07-01** In committee: Hearing postponed by committee.
- **2009-07-15** From committee: Do pass, and re-refer to Com. on APPR. Re-referred. (Ayes 6. Noes 0.) (July 14). `committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage`
- **2009-08-18** From committee: Be placed on second reading file pursuant to Senate Rule 28.8. `committee-passage`
- **2009-08-19** Read second time. To third reading. `reading-2, reading-1`
- **2009-09-01** Read third time, passed, and to Assembly. (Ayes 30. Noes 1. Page 2054.) `reading-3, passage, reading-1`
- **2009-09-02** In Assembly. To enrollment.
- **2009-09-08** Enrolled and to the Governor at 2:45 p.m.
- **2009-10-11** Approved by the Governor. `executive-signature`
- **2009-10-11** Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 225, Statutes of 2009.

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/50f3af6c-7993-4a01-91bd-24bd95f38f11`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official California legislature records).