In the near future, we will be reintroducing legislation to grant the Attorney General concurrent jurisdiction on animal cruelty. This bill was introduced as Senate Bill 758 from last session.

Pennsylvania took enormous bi-partisan strides to crack down on animal cruelty in passing Libre's law in 2017, finally creating felony level penalties for egregious acts of animal cruelty.

The FBI has started tracking animal cruelty crimes as a risk factor for future violence against humans, and many studies have shown the link between animal cruelty and domestic violence. Pennsylvania taking animal cruelty seriously is an important first step in protecting our most vulnerable citizens, however, we must make sure to do all we can to ensure its enforcement.

By granting the Attorney General’s Office concurrent jurisdiction on animal cruelty, this bill would allow the Attorney General to assist in prosecuting large scale animal cruelty cases in counties which have had little experience in doing so. The Attorney General's office would be able to both prosecute cases and train assistant district attorneys and humane police officers. Currently, the Attorney General is only able to step in on cases as referred by the District Attorney due to conflicts of interest.

This bill has also been listed among the priorities this session of the Animal Protection Caucus - a bipartisan, bicameral coalition of legislators working on legislation to protect domestic, equine and farm animals in our Commonwealth.

Please join us in cosponsoring this important legislation.