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Congressional Research Service
Version 00 · Introduced in House · Feb 21, 2025
Animal Cruelty Enforcement Act of 2025
This bill establishes a new section in the Environment and Natural Resources Division of the Department of Justice to enforce federal laws concerning animal cruelty.
People & committees
Rep. Joyce, David P. [R-OH-14] · R–OH
Legislative record
A procedural vote is different from passage. Passage in one chamber does not establish enactment. Explore the glossary.
Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Primary sources
Text links open the official source. We also preserved the text version used in the PlainBill explanation below.
No related bills are listed in this snapshot. This does not establish whether the proposal has appeared in earlier Congresses.
Source last updated: Sep 19, 2026. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
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PlainBill explanation
Based on the full Introduced in House · 2025-02-21 text. This explanation has not received human editorial review. This overview describes the proposal’s major provisions; it does not establish what its real-world effects would be.
The bill would create a specialized Justice Department section to enforce federal animal-cruelty laws within the department’s authority, including investigating violations and prosecuting cases. It would also require annual reports to Congress on charges, convictions, and investigations that did not result in charges. These are proposed requirements in the supplied introduced version.
(a) Establishment There is established an Animal Cruelty Crimes Section within the Department of Justice’s Environment and Natural Resources Division to enforce Federal laws prohibiting animal cruelty under the jurisdiction of the Department of Justice.
(b) Purpose The purpose of the Animal Cruelty Crimes Section is to enforce Federal laws prohibiting animal cruelty under the jurisdiction of the Department of Justice and to vigorously pursue investigations and prosecutions under such laws.
(d) Report On the date that is one year after the date of enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the Animal Cruelty Crimes Section shall submit to Congress a report on, for the previous year— (1) the number of charges that were filed for violations of laws described in subsection (b), disaggregated by the law alleged to have been violated, the State in which the violation was alleged to have occurred, and the number of convictions; and (2) the number of investigations of violations of laws described in subsection (b) for which charges were not filed.
Section 1 names the proposal the Animal Cruelty Enforcement Act of 2025.
1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Animal Cruelty Enforcement Act of 2025.
The findings present Congress’s stated rationale: animal cruelty is connected with other crimes, animal fighting may spread diseases between animals and people, and a dedicated enforcement unit would improve enforcement. These are assertions in the proposal, not independently established effects.
Congress finds the following: (1) There is a significant connection between animal cruelty and violence against humans, domestic violence, child abuse, sexual abuse, homicide, gang activity, drug trafficking, and other crimes. (2) Animal fighting activity may increase the spread of diseases transmitted between animals and people.
(7) The lack of a dedicated animal crimes enforcement unit within the Department of Justice has resulted in unacceptable delays in prosecutions, and an overall lack of prosecution, of animal crimes. (8) Dedicated staff and resources at the Department of Justice will facilitate successful enforcement of animal cruelty laws, which often have unique investigative elements, by providing specialized knowledge and focus, and streamlining the handling of these offenses.
The proposed Animal Cruelty Crimes Section would sit within the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division. Its enforcement responsibilities would cover federal animal-cruelty laws within the department’s jurisdiction.
(a) Establishment There is established an Animal Cruelty Crimes Section within the Department of Justice’s Environment and Natural Resources Division to enforce Federal laws prohibiting animal cruelty under the jurisdiction of the Department of Justice.
(b) Purpose The purpose of the Animal Cruelty Crimes Section is to enforce Federal laws prohibiting animal cruelty under the jurisdiction of the Department of Justice and to vigorously pursue investigations and prosecutions under such laws.
The section would have to coordinate, as appropriate, with the Agriculture Department, its Office of Inspector General, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the United States Marshals Service, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and other agencies.
(c) Coordination The Animal Cruelty Crimes Section shall coordinate with the Department of Agriculture, the Office of Inspector General of the Department of Agriculture, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the United States Marshals Service, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and other agencies, as appropriate.
The first report to Congress would be due one year after enactment, with reports annually thereafter covering the previous year. Reports would have to give charge counts broken down by the law allegedly violated and the state where the alleged violation occurred, along with conviction counts.
(d) Report On the date that is one year after the date of enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the Animal Cruelty Crimes Section shall submit to Congress a report on, for the previous year— (1) the number of charges that were filed for violations of laws described in subsection (b), disaggregated by the law alleged to have been violated, the State in which the violation was alleged to have occurred, and the number of convictions;
The annual reports would also have to count investigations of covered animal-cruelty violations for which no charges were filed.
(2) the number of investigations of violations of laws described in subsection (b) for which charges were not filed.
The supplied official-actions snapshot, updated September 19, 2026, records introduction in the House and referral to the House Committee on the Judiciary on February 21, 2025.
Source snapshot updated 2026-09-19T23:32:21Z. 2025-02-21: Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary. 2025-02-21: Introduced in House
A closer look
Reviewed version: Introduced in House · 2025-02-21. These findings describe provisions and who may benefit; they are not judgments of waste, corruption, or motive.
This review covers the supplied bill text. “None identified” does not rule out provisions in later versions or accompanying reports and disclosures.
Provisions outside the bill’s main subject, or policy changes attached to appropriations.
None identified in the reviewed text
No unrelated provision or policy change attached to appropriations was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. This conclusion is limited to that version, not other versions or accompanying materials.
Spending directed to particular recipients or places outside ordinary competitive or formula-based allocation.
None identified in the reviewed text
No congressionally directed spending for particular recipients or places was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. This conclusion is limited to that version and does not establish the absence of earmarks in other versions or accompanying materials.
Narrow exceptions, exemptions, or preferential treatment that warrant a closer look.
None identified in the reviewed text
No materially narrow carve-out, special exemption, or preferential treatment was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. This conclusion is limited to that version, not other versions or accompanying materials.
Full text preserved for this analysis. Legislative record snapshot: Sep 19, 2026. How PlainBill uses AI