Animal Cruelty is Finally Almost A Federal Crime
We can all agree that people who intentionally hurt animals are psychos right? That may have come off strong but seriously, this law is long overdue.
According to the NY Times, the House unanimously passed The Preventing Animal Cruelty and Torture Act. This PACT Act will expand on the previous 2010 law that prohibited the creation or distribution of animal cruelty videos.
The new PACT Act will criminalize not only the recording of animal cruelty, but the act of cruelty itself. Intentional acts of cruelty to non-human mammals, birds, reptiles, or amphibians may result in a fine and/or prison time up to 7 years.
Of course there are exceptions for hunting, but let's not go down that road. Other exceptions include medical or scientific research, protecting your life or property, or if it was unintentional.
Again, I wish this had all been made into law a lot sooner. I cannot fathom why anyone would want to be so cruel and nefarious to an innocent animal.