Last week, the U.S. Senate unanimously passed legislation introduced by Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) to crack down on extreme animal cruelty, taking a critical step towards enactment of the first general federal animal cruelty law. The Preventing Animal Cruelty and Torture (PACT) Act, if approved by the House of Representatives, would prohibit malicious animal cruelty that occurs in interstate commerce or on federal property, providing federal enforcement authority to supplement state anti-cruelty frameworks.
The PACT Act would help address bestiality, which often involves transporting animals across state lines and the use of internet forums to facilitate the abuse — and is often linked to child pornography and other sexual crimes. Our society has long agreed that cruelty to animals should not be tolerated, and the PACT Act reflects these common sense values.
We thank Sen. Blumenthal for his leadership and urge the House to move quickly to pass the PACT Act into law.
Wayne Pacelle is President & CEO of the Humane Society of the United States.