Joyce sponsors Animal Cruelty Crimes bill

U.S. Rep. Dave Joyce, R-Bainbridge Township, is sponsoring a bill that would create a dedicated Animal Cruelty Crimes section within the U.S. Department of Justice’s Environment and Natural Resources Division.

The bill’s sponsors said the legislation will aid the DOJ in the investigation, enforcement and prosecution of felony animal cruelty crimes. It also requires the DOJ to report to Congress annually on the progress made in enforcing animal cruelty statutes.

Joyce is sponsoring the bill — the Animal Cruelty Enforcement Act — along with Reps. Joe Neguse, D-Colorado, and Steve Cohen, D-Tennessee.

“As a life-long pet owner, I want those who commit crimes of animal cruelty brought to justice and as a former prosecutor, I want to make sure the criminals who commit these crimes can’t escalate to committing violence against other people,” Joyce said in a statement. “By creating a dedicated Animal Cruelty Crimes section within the Department of Justice, the ACE Act will improve the federal government’s ability to crack down on animal cruelty crimes and hold perpetrators

accountable in a timely, efficient manner.”

The sponsors said that several prominent animal welfare statutes have been signed into law over the past few years, which “vastly expanded the breadth of federal animal cruelty laws.” That expansion has increased the need for a specific animal crimes enforcement unit within the DOJ to help avoid delays and/ or lack of prosecutions, the sponsors argued.

“A dedicated Animal Cruelty Crimes Division, provided through the ACE Act, would meet this need by facilitating stronger enforcement of animal cruelty laws through specialized knowledge and a streamlined process for handling such offenses,” a news release from the sponsors stated.

Cohen said in a statement “enforcement of laws already on the books, including those banning dogfighting and other cruel practices, is critical to ending these barbaric practices, which is what this measure aims to do.”

“Proper enforcement of animal cruelty laws will protect animal welfare and help keep our communities safe from the violence so often linked to these crimes,” Neguse said in a statement.