WASHINGTON — Animal cruelty will become a federal felony if President Donald Trump signs a bill passed unanimously in the Senate this week.
The PACT Act, or Preventing Animal Cruelty and Torture Act, was passed in the house last month and expands a law that had been passed in 2010 that only prohibited animal fighting and made animal cruelty a crime if those committing the acts sell videos of it, CBS News reported.
Now a person can face federal felony charges for crushing, burning, drowning, suffocating and impaling animals. They also can be jailed if convicted of sexually exploiting them. The accused will face federal felony charges, fines and up to seven years behind bars, CBS News reported. There are exceptions for hunting, CNN reported.
While all states have a law against animal cruelty, the PACT Act puts the crimes under federal jurisdictions. It allows prosecution if an incident happens on federal property, according to CNN.
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