Anima cruelty is officially a felony.
Last month, the House of Representatives unanimously passed a bill that would make animal cruelty a federal felony, calling it a "major step to end animal abuse."
Monday afternoon, President Trump signed the bipartisan bill into law, making animal cruety officially a federal crime.
The Preventing Animal Cruelty and Torture Act, otherwise known as the PACT Act, bans abusive behavior including crushing, burning, drowning, suffocating, impaling and other bodily injury toward any non-human mammals, birds, reptiles, or amphibians.
Chris Schindler, vice president of field services at the Humane Rescue Alliance said in a statement, "This bill is particularly important to us as the only humane law enforcement agency in D.C. Our officers investigate thousands of animal cruelty cases each year, but have been unable to truly bring justice for the animals in instances when the cruelty occurs across multiple jurisdictions. The PACT Act is a necessary tool for us to provide further protections for animals and our community, and will ensure some of the most horrific acts of animal cruelty are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law."
Violators of the PACT Act now face criminal penalties of a fine, a prison term of up to seven years, or both.
Via CBS News