Animal Cruelty Now A Felony Nationwide

United States President Donald Trump signed a bill to make animal cruelty a felony nationwide into law Monday, Nov. 25.

The U.S. Senate unanimously voted to pass the Preventing Animal Cruelty and Torture Act earlier this month.

PACT, which was introduced by Congressmen Vern Buchanan and Ted Deutch, passed the U.S. House Oct. 23.

“This is a milestone for pet owners and animal lovers across the country,” Buchanan said. “For the first time, a national law has been passed by Congress to protect animals from cruelty and abuse.”

The act bans crushing, burning, drowning, suffocating, impaling or otherwise subjecting animals to serious bodily harm.

'This is commonsense, bipartisan legislation to bring some compassion to our animal laws,' Deutch said.

In 2010, Congress passed legislation making it illegal to create and distribute socalled 'animal crush videos' that showed people brutally killing and torturing animals. The underlying acts themselves were still legal under federal law.

The PACT Act aims to close those loopholes.

“The torture of innocent animals is abhorrent and should be punished to the fullest extent of the law,” Buchanan said. “Protecting animals from cruelty is a top priority for me and I’m proud to work with Congressman Deutch on this important issue.”