(Photo Source: groundup.org.za)
Animal cruelty ruled as a federal offense
The U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill making acts of animal cruelty a federal crime. Called the Preventing Animal Cruelty and Torture Act, PACT was unanimously passed Tuesday and expands on a prior law that criminalizes the creation and distribution of “obscene” videos of animal abuse.
However, the law does not prohibit acts of violence toward animals itself and contains exceptions for hunting.
The bill, which revises a previous law passed in 2010, was introduced by Reps. Ted Deutch (D-Fla.) and Vern Buchanan (R-Fla.), making it a federal crime for “any person to intentionally engage” in animal cruelty. It included burning, drowning, suffocating, impaling or otherwise injuring “non-human mammals, birds, reptiles or amphibians.”
It sends a “strong message that this behavior will not be tolerated,” Buchanan said. The PACT Act will no longer limit authorities to state laws but will allow them to go after wrongdoers under federal jurisdiction.
Those convicted would face federal felony charges, fines and up to seven years in prison. The bill has been endorsed by the National Sheriffs Association and the Fraternal Order of Police, and animal rights groups such as ASPCA have praised the passing of the act.
“With the House passage of the PACT Act, we are one step closer to a federal law protecting animals from one of the most brutal acts of cruelty,” Richard Patch, ASPCA’s vice president of federal affairs told USA Today.
By: Maytinee Kramer
