05/08/2026
For the first time in U.S. history, extreme animal cruelty is a federal crime.
President Trump signed the Preventing Animal Cruelty and Torture (PACT) Act into law on November 25, 2019, after both the House and Senate passed it with overwhelming bipartisan support.
The law bans intentional crushing, burning, drowning, suffocating, and impaling of animals, and carries penalties of up to seven years in federal prison.
Prior to the PACT Act, all 50 states had felony-level animal cruelty laws, but no federal law existed to cover abuse that crossed state lines or occurred on federal property.
The new law closes that gap and gives law enforcement the federal tools they had long been asking for.
Advocates also note the well-documented link between animal cruelty and violence against people, making this a public safety measure as much as an animal protection one.