A new federal animal abuse task force has been formed in Los Angeles to prosecute violations of the Preventing Animal Cruelty and Torture (PACT) Act. The law, enacted in 2019, makes it a crime to engage in animal abuse that affects interstate or foreign commerce and to produce “animal crush” videos showing graphic acts of cruelty.
“Animal abuse is among the most heartbreaking and despicable type of crimes that law enforcement sees,” said Acting United States Attorney Bill Essayli. “Together with our federal and local partners, my office intends to root out and punish those who profit from hurting animals.”
The task force will be led by federal prosecutors from the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s Environmental Crimes and Consumer Protection Section. It includes representatives from the FBI, the United States Department of Agriculture Office of Inspector General, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office, the Los Angeles Police Department, Los Angeles City Animal Control, and other state and local agencies. The group will focus on prosecuting serious cases of animal abuse throughout the Central District of California.
This district covers seven counties—Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, and Ventura—and has about 20 million residents.
As part of its first actions, members of the task force conducted outreach in Skid Row in Los Angeles. They checked on a dozen dogs to ensure they had clean water and food, searched for signs of neglect or abuse, distributed resources such as collars and leashes, and seized one abandoned dog.
Reports of animal abuse can be submitted at tips.fbi.gov or by calling 1-800-CALL-FBI.
