U.S. Reps. Ted Deutch, D-Broward, and Vern Buchanan, R-Sarasota are among the main sponsors of a new bill that would make animal cruelty a federal crime.
The proposal was revealed last week. If passed, the bill, called the Preventing Animal Cruelty and Torture Act, would make a person who engages in animal crushing, burning, drowning, suffocation, impalement or other serious bodily injury liable for a federal offense.
The charge would carry a maximum sentence of seven years in prison.
In their unveiling of the legislation, both congressmen cited the 2010 Animal Crush Video Prohibition Act, which made the creation, sale and distribution of animal abuse videos illegal nationwide, according to a report from KJRH.
Among the bill's endorsers are the Human Society, the National Sheriffs' Association and the Fraternal Order of Police.
An identical bill was passed in the U.S. Senate during Congress' last session.
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