Animal cruelty in the United States is typically a matter of state or local jurisdiction, with each state having its own set of animal welfare laws. But the PACT Act gives federal authorities the power to prosecute acts of extreme cruelty in specific cases.

The PACT Act accomplishes this by building on existing legislation that targeted “crush videos” ― fetish videos that show animals being tortured or killed. The Animal Crush Video Prohibition Act of 2010 made the creation and distribution of these videos a federal crime.

That law defines “animal crushing” as an act in which an animal (excluding fish and insects) is “purposely crushed, burned, drowned, suffocated, impaled, or otherwise subjected to serious bodily injury.”

But the 2010 law applies to these acts only if they occur in conjunction with a crush video. The new PACT Act expands on that law by making any activity defined as “animal crushing” potentially a federal crime, whether or not it is for a video.

Under the PACT Act, any of the brutal acts defined as “crushing” are subject to federal law if they happen on federal property or if they occur “in or affecting interstate or foreign commerce.”