House and Senate Pass Bill Making Animal Cruelty a Federal Offense
Tené Johnson, CLS ’21
Many people are surprised to know that the United States currently doesn’t have a federal felony law against animal cruelty.[1] [2] While all states have laws against animal neglect and/or abuse, the lack of a federal law has many implications.[3] It sends the message that preventing and prosecuting animal cruelty is not a priority on a national level. It also makes it difficult to prosecute cases of animal cruelty occurring across multiple jurisdictions as well as cases that occur in places under federal purview, such as military bases and airports.[4] For example, a federal law would allow federal prosecutors and law enforcement officials to bring charges in cases in which animals are being mistreated while transported on interstate highways, cases in which information is being exchanged online to facilitate bestiality, cases in which the specific location of the abuse cannot be determined, and cases involving the interstate sale of abused dogs for puppy mills. On October 22, 2019, The Preventing Animal Cruelty and Torture Act (PACT Act), introduced by Reps. Ted Deutch (D-Fla.) and Vern Buchanan (R-Fla.) passed unanimously in the House.[5] On November 5, 2019, the Act also passed in the Senate.[6] The bill now awaits signature by President Trump.
The PACT Act allows authorities, regardless of state laws, to prosecute animal abusers for crushing, burning, drowning, suffocating, sexually exploiting, and impaling animals.[7] The ability to prosecute cases under the PACT Act is particularly important in the case of bestiality, as some states still do not have laws banning the sexual exploitation of an animal. Under current federal law, the sale of “crush videos” depicting these actions is illegal under The Animal Crush Video Prohibition Act.[8] The PACT Act would expand that law, making the underlying activities portrayed in these videos also illegal. If passed, under PACT, animal abusers could be punished with felony charges, up to seven years in prison, and/or fines.[9] The Act includes exceptions for hunting, veterinary care, scientific research, action needed to protect the life or property of a person, and unintentional acts.[10]
Supporters of the Act have cited many reasons for backing the bill. Some believe that animals are capable of suffering and are inherently worthy of moral and legal consideration. Consequently, they reason that we as humans have direct duties to them, including the duty to prevent cruelty towards them by deterring and punishing animal abusers. Others believe in a Kantian theory of indirect duties to animals based on the idea that while we do not have direct duties to animals, we should avoid their mistreatment as it ruins the moral state of society by normalizing aggression and encouraging future violence against humans.[11] While animal lawyers generally consider the bill a win, many also point to the lack of protections provided under the PACT Act for farmed animals. Each year, 9 billion land animals are raised for food in the United States, but currently no federal animal cruelty law governs their care, and they are exempt from most state cruelty laws as they fall under exceptions for agricultural practices.[12]
[1] Lauren M. Johnson, The House Passes a Bill that Makes Animal Cruelty a Federal Felony, CNN (October 23, 2019), https://www.cnn.com/2019/10/23/politics/house-passes-pact-act-trnd/index.html [https://perma.cc/3DGD-54PQ]. Currently, federal law only prohibits animal fighting and the creation and sale of videos depicting certain acts of animal cruelty, through the Animal Crush Video Prohibition Act.
[2] Kelly Taylor Hayes, ‘A Significant Milestone’: House Unanimously Passes Bill to Make Animal Cruelty a Federal Felony, Fox 5 New York (October 25, 2019), https://www.fox5ny.com/news/a-significant-milestone-house-unanimously-passes-bill-to-make-animal-cruelty-a-federal-felony [https://perma.cc/39G9-UMBA].
[3] Hannah Knowles, Most Animal Cruelty Isn’t a Federal Crime. The House Just Passed a Bill to Change That, Washington Post (October 23, 2019), https://www.washingtonpost.com/science/2019/10/23/most-animal-cruelty-isnt-federal-crime-house-just-passed-bill-change-that/ [https://perma.cc/JC5E-CFWQ].
[4] Hannah Knowles, Most Animal Cruelty Isn’t a Federal Crime. The House Just Passed a Bill to Change That, Washington Post (October 23, 2019), https://www.washingtonpost.com/science/2019/10/23/most-animal-cruelty-isnt-federal-crime-house-just-passed-bill-change-that/ [https://perma.cc/JC5E-CFWQ].
[5] Neil Vigdor, House Unanimously Approves Bill to Make Animal Cruelty a Federal Offense, New York Times (October 23, 2019), https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/23/us/politics/animal-cruelty-pact-act-bill.html [https://perma.cc/VV36-VNB5].
[6] Cole Higgins, The Senate Unanimously Passes a Bill that Makes Animal Cruelty a Federal Felony, CNN (November 6, 2019), https://www.cnn.com/2019/11/05/politics/senate-pact-act-animal-cruelty-felony/index.html [https://perma.cc/WZQ5-DDZR].
[7] 116th Congress, H.R. 724- Preventing Animal Cruelty and Torture Act, Congress.Gov (2019-2020), https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/house-bill/724 [https://perma.cc/3A29-ZHBR].
[8] Kelly Taylor Hayes, ‘A Significant Milestone’: House Unanimously Passes Bill to Make Animal Cruelty a Federal Felony, Fox 5 New York (October 25, 2019), https://www.fox5ny.com/news/a-significant-milestone-house-unanimously-passes-bill-to-make-animal-cruelty-a-federal-felony [https://perma.cc/39G9-UMBA].
[9] 116th Congress, H.R. 724- Preventing Animal Cruelty and Torture Act, Congress.Gov (2019-2020), https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/house-bill/724 [https://perma.cc/3A29-ZHBR].
[10] Id.
[11] Hannah Knowles, Most Animal Cruelty Isn’t a Federal Crime. The House Just Passed a Bill to Change That, Washington Post (October 23, 2019), https://www.washingtonpost.com/science/2019/10/23/most-animal-cruelty-isnt-federal-crime-house-just-passed-bill-change-that/ [https://perma.cc/JC5E-CFWQ].
[12] Animal Legal Defense Fund, Farmed Animals & The Law, Animal Legal Defense Fund (Accessed October 27, 2019), https://aldf.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/FmDRu3zPSGSwWmQPzuzl_2018-123-7784-Farmed-animals-and-the-law-Brochure_vF-1.pdf [https://perma.cc/5GMW-R25X].