19/11/2021
The Animal Welfare Act: Signed into law in 1966, the Animal Welfare Act (AWA) is the primary federal animal protection law. The AWA mainly involves animals kept at zoos and used in laboratories, as well as animals who are commercially bred and sold like those in puppy mills.
The PACT (Preventing Animal Cruelty and Torture) Act: Signed into law in 2019, the PACT Act makes some of the most egregious forms of animal cruelty — specifically crushing, burning, drowning, suffocating, impaling or sexual exploitation — in or affecting interstate commerce or within the territorial jurisdiction of the United States a federal crime.
The Lacey Act: Enacted in 1900, the Lacey Act bans illegal wildlife trafficking. It was the first federal law protecting wild animals. Specifically, it prohibits trade in wildlife and plants that have been illegally taken, possessed, transported, or sold. It also prohibits the falsification of documents regarding the sale and shipment of wildlife. For example, the Lacey Act can be used to prosecute a dealer who sells endangered turtles smuggled from Costa Rica or a roadside zoo who falsifies documents to sell a tiger cub across state lines.
https://aldf.org/article/laws-that-protect-animals/
In the United States, animal protection laws can be enacted and enforced at every level of government. Most animal protection legislation happens at the state level.
