Being cruel to animals is a despicable action, but unfortunately, people do it every day. Sometimes it’s for greed. Other times it’s just individuals with serious issues, who get some kind of satisfaction from hurting a helpless animal. Either way, it’s wrong, it’s also the reason we have laws in place to protect our animals. Thanks to the new bipartisan bill that was just passed by the U.S. House of Representatives, it is now a federal crime to be violent towards animals!
The U.S. House of Representatives unanimously passed a bill making it a federal offense to be violent toward animals!
The Preventing Animal Cruelty and Torture Act or PACT Act was voted on at the beginning of October, it passed with flying colors with not a single vote against it. The bill that passed by the U.S. House of Representatives is an expansion on another bill, the bill originally was to prevent people from using “obscene” footage of animals.
The first bill was a step in the right direction but had a major loophole that had to be corrected. Although it protected animals from being used “obscene” video, there was nothing in it that protected them against acts of violence.
The new bill protects animals against acts of violence under federal law, which should detour anyone with bad intentions.
The new bill was introduced by Reps. Ted Deutch (D-Fla.) and Vern Buchanan (R-Fla.). The law wouldn’t interfere with local legislation on animal cruelty but would lend a hand in the fight against the horrible crimes. A fact sheet from the Rep. Deutch’s office describes the bill saying;
“any person to intentionally engage in animal cruelty, including burning, drowning, suffocating, impaling or otherwise injuring non-human mammals, birds, reptiles or amphibians.”All which are now a federal crimes under the PACT Act.
Animal Rights groups like the ASPCA, praised the passage of the PACT Act, acknowledging that it was a step in the right direction!
The ASPCA or American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals was elated at the passage of the PACT Act, their Vice President Richard Patch gave a statement saying:
“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, and we thank Representatives Ted Deutch and Vern Buchanan for introducing this bill as well as their continued leadership on animal protection,”
This is an amazing new bill, it will surely help prevent any type of cruelty to animals!
With the federal government now on their side, animals should be safe from the individuals that want to bring them harm. We all have a moral obligation to do what we can to keep out furry friends safe! So let’s do our best to make sure we help all living things thrive, the world will be a better place for it!
Animal cruelty is officially a federal crime according to new bill house passes.
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