House Passes Stevens-Led Amendment to Enforce Animal Cruelty Laws

Statement

Today, the House of Representatives passed an amendment led by Rep. Haley Stevens (MI-11) to H.R. 3055, the Commerce, Justice, Science, Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, Interior, Environment, Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, Transportation, and Housing and Urban Development Appropriations Act. The amendment was passed with overwhelming bipartisan support.

The bipartisan amendment, co-sponsored by Reps. Matt Gaetz (R-FL-01), Joe Neguse (D-CO-02), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA-01), Ben McAdams (D-UT-04), Peter King (R-NY-02), Madeleine Dean (D-PA-04), Vern Buchanan (R-FL-16), and Cindy Axne (D-IA-03), adds and removes $2,000,000 from the Legal Activities account at the Department of Justice (DOJ) for the purpose of instructing DOJ's Environment and Natural Resources Division to allocate more resources to adequately enforce our nation's animal cruelty laws.

"Congress has made great strides to improve our animal welfare laws and rid this country of heartless cruelty toward animals, yet there are currently insufficient resources to ensure that these laws are adequately enforced," said Congresswoman Stevens. "This amendment takes bold action to both defend the rights of animals and protect the safety of our communities. I am grateful to my colleagues on both sides of the aisle who supported this amendment and to the advocates who are fighting tirelessly to give a voice to the voiceless. I will continue working to ensure this amendment is included in the final appropriations bill."

"As constituents of Representative Stevens, attorneys, and members of the non-profit Attorneys for Animals, we understand the importance of her amendment," said Beatrice Friedlander and Donald Garlit of Canton, Michigan. "The additional DOJ funding authorized by the amendment will make a substantial difference in the enforcement of animal cruelty laws, a cause which is bi-partisan and widely supported by Americans."

Congress has taken meaningful steps in recent years to improve animal welfare, with the passage of legislation like the Horse Protection Act, the Crush Video law, the Animal Welfare Act, and Animal Fighting laws. While our animal rights laws have improved, there are currently insufficient resources to ensure that these laws are being adequately enforced.

The intent of this bipartisan amendment is to urge DOJ to allocate $2 million for the Environment and Natural Resources Division to continue working with USDA and the U.S. Attorney's Offices to more actively pursue animal welfare crimes. DOJ is also encouraged to create an Animal Cruelty Crimes Unit and have dedicated staff to prosecute these offenses, which would formalize Section 3 of the DOJ's manual.

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