FBI Animal Cruelty Taskforce Act of 2025
Summary
What This Bill Does
The FBI Animal Cruelty Taskforce Act creates a specialized Animal Cruelty Crimes Taskforce inside the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The Taskforce investigates and enforces federal laws prohibiting animal cruelty under Justice Department jurisdiction, specifically including dogfighting, cockfighting, crush videos, and similar conduct. It must produce training materials for local law enforcement on investigation and detection of those offenses. It must coordinate with USDA, USDA's Office of Inspector General, the FBI, the U.S. Marshals Service, Customs and Border Protection, and other appropriate agencies. One year after enactment and annually thereafter, the Taskforce must report to Congress on the prior year's charges, disaggregated by alleged law violated, state, and convictions, plus investigations where charges were not filed.
Who Benefits and How
Federal animal-cruelty investigators benefit from a dedicated FBI task force structure. Local law enforcement agencies benefit from training materials on detecting and investigating federal animal-cruelty offenses. Animal welfare organizations benefit from stronger federal enforcement attention to dogfighting, cockfighting, and crush videos. Congressional oversight committees benefit from annual data on charges, convictions, states, and investigations without charges.
Who Bears the Burden and How
FBI leadership must establish and manage the task force. USDA OIG, U.S. Marshals, and CBP staff must coordinate with the task force where appropriate. People involved in animal fighting or crush-video conduct face increased federal investigation and prosecution risk. Taskforce staff must compile and submit annual reports to Congress.
Key Provisions
- Establishes an Animal Cruelty Crimes Taskforce within the FBI.
- Requires investigation and enforcement of federal animal-cruelty laws including dogfighting, cockfighting, and crush videos.
- Requires training materials for local law enforcement.
- Requires coordination with USDA, USDA OIG, U.S. Marshals, CBP, and other agencies.
- Requires annual congressional reports on charges, convictions, states, and investigations without charges.
Evidence Chain:
This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
At a Glance
What This Bill Does
Establishes an FBI Animal Cruelty Crimes Taskforce to investigate and enforce federal animal-cruelty laws, including dogfighting, cockfighting, crush videos, and similar conduct, produce local law-enforcement training materials, coordinate with USDA, USDA OIG, U.S. Marshals, CBP, and other agencies, and report annually to Congress on charges, convictions, states, and investigations without charges.
Key Policy Areas
Law Enforcement, Animal Cruelty, Federal Investigations
Primary Purpose
Establishes an FBI Animal Cruelty Crimes Taskforce to investigate and enforce federal animal-cruelty laws, including dogfighting, cockfighting, crush videos, and similar conduct, produce local law-enforcement training materials, coordinate with USDA, USDA OIG, U.S. Marshals, CBP, and other agencies, and report annually to Congress on charges, convictions, states, and investigations without charges.
Policy Domains
Resolution provisions
Identified Gains
- Federal animal-cruelty investigators
- Local law enforcement agencies
- Animal welfare organizations
- Congressional oversight committees
Identified Costs
- FBI leadership
- USDA OIG staff
- Animal fighting participants
- Taskforce staff
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
In CommitteeMr. Gottheimer (for himself and Ms. Malliotakis) introduced the following …
Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.
Introduced in House
Stakeholder Effects
cui bono?How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.
Animal fighting participants, Federal animal-cruelty investigators, Local law enforcement agencies
Positive-direction: Local law enforcement agencies
Negative-direction: Animal fighting participants
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology