PACT Act makes animal cruelty felony offense
These feral kittens were humanely trapped and taken to be spayed or neutered. They will then be fostered by a volunteer and adopted to a loving family. The newly signed PACT Act makes animal abuse a felony. One way to prevent abuse is to reduce the feral cat population.
January 10, 2020
A new bill was passed in October 2019 called the PACT Act that makes animal cruelty a felony offense and those convicted would face fines and up to seven years in prison.
Although the legislation bans violently exploiting animals, it contains an exception for the meat industry, scientific research, and any form of hunting.
Javier Sanchez ’22 said, “If someone severely harmed my pet, I would expect that they pay the funds to support the damages. If someone killed my pet, then maybe two years in jail. I think seven years is excessive.”
This legislation would go further than the 2010 law that made it illegal to create or sell animal torture videos. The 2010 ban acknowledged the videos posted online that showcased animals being mistreated or killed for a twisted sense of entertainment.
Robert Harutunyan ’22 said, “I think animal abuse videos are disgusting. It is a good thing they banned them because I remember hearing about it and felt so sad for the animals.”
The bipartisan bill, sponsored by Senator Pat Toomey and Senator Richard Blumenthal, was signed by President Trump and became a law.
According to the Animal Legal Defense Fund, many laws protecting animals are at the state level and now abusers can potentially be punished at the federal level.
Most people would agree that animals can be important members of the family and should notbemistreatedinanyway,but protected.
Senator Blumenthal stated on Twitter, “There is no place in a civilized society for maiming and torturing animals. Period.”