The Senate unanimously passed legislation that would make certain forms of animal cruelty a federal crime.
The Senate passed the Preventing Animal Cruelty and Torture Act on Tuesday, outlawing the acts seen in “animal crushing” videos in which people crush animals for entertainment.
The Animal Crush Video Prohibition Act of 2010 banned the videos but the new legislation would federally ban the underlying action, as well. The PACT Act will be placed on President Trump’s desk for approval.
“Passing this legislation is a major victory in the effort to stop animal cruelty and make our communities safer,” Sen. Pat Toomey said in a statement. “Evidence shows that the deranged individuals who harm animals often move on to committing acts of violence against people. It is appropriate that the federal government have strong animal cruelty laws and penalties.”
The Pennsylvania Republican co-sponsored the act in the Senate along with Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut.
“There is no place in a civilized society for maiming and torturing animals — period,” said Blumenthal. “Senator Toomey and I have spent years working to hold the barbaric individuals who commit these crimes accountable, and I’m glad that Congress is now finally sending our bill to the president’s desk to be signed into law.”
“Animal crushing” videos usually picture women without shoes or wearing stilettos crushing small animals. The videos were sold by third-party vendors until 1999 when the United States first banned them. The 1999 law was overturned by the Supreme Court in 2010 for infringing on free speech, so Congress drafted and passed the Animal Crush Video Prohibition Act to address the court’s concerns.
