Animal Cruelty Could Soon Be Considered a Felony Under Federal Law

Lawmakers this week introduced a bill that would make animal cruelty a felony under federal law and would also come with a stiff prison sentence.
The bipartisan Prevent Animal Cruelty and Torture (PACT) bill would make a malicious act of abuse towards an animal a felony. If found guilty of abuse, the convicted could receive a prison sentence of up to seven years.
The bill would also close a loophole that makes abuse punishable only if the abuse is seen on video.
Republican Representative Vern Buchanan, a co-sponsor of the bill, tweeted that “the torture of innocent animals…should be punished to the fullest extent of the law.