The Pact Act (Preventing Animal Cruelty and Torture) was signed by the president Trump on November 25,2019. He stated: “This is something that should’ve happened a long time ago and it didn’t”. He furthered his comments with.
“This commonsense legislation restricts the creation and distribution of videos or images of animal torture. It is important that we combat these heinous and sadistic acts of cruelty, which are totally unacceptable in a civilized society.”
“From battlefields to hospitals, from the ranches of the frontier to the backyards of America, from animals of service to animals of war, our nation’s animals have played a vital role in the development, settlement, security, and happiness of our country.”
Preventing and punishing such cruelty is both an animal welfare and a public health imperative. More and more, the law enforcement and legal communities recognize that animal cruelty is both a serious crime in and of itself and a precursor or gateway to other violent crimes. The evidence is compelling:
Many studies substantiate the relationship between animal cruelty and family violence; for example, 71 percent of pet-owning domestic violence survivors reported that their abusers had threatened, injured, or killed their pets.Animal abuse is one of four significant predictors of who is likely to become a batterer.In one study, 70 percent of animal abusers had committed at least one other crime. Almost 40 percent had committed violent crimes against people.That same study showed that animal abusers are five times more likely than non abusers to commit other violent crimes.In an ongoing project, the FBI has found that the criminal histories of 59 percent of 259 cases of active animal cruelty analyzed between 2004 and 2009 involved other crimes of interpersonal violence, 17 percent involved sex offenses, and 24 percent were arrested for assault within 1-5 years after their arrest for animal cruelty.In further recognition of seriousness of this crime, the FBI has added animal cruelty to the Uniform Crime Report.
By providing law enforcement and the criminal justice system with another tool for responding to such unspeakable acts of animal cruelty, the PACT Act protects our communities from many forms of violence.
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