Animal Cruelty Charges

On October 10, 2025, California’s governor signed a bill prohibiting the declawing of cats except in medically necessary cases. This is one of several animal cruelty laws passed throughout the United States in recent years.

Cruelty to animals has become a focus of criminal law enforcement actions over the past few decades. Animals play a vital role in society as pets, livestock, and companions. However, they are still considered property under the law, so animal cruelty laws and animal rights have progressed by fits and starts throughout history.

Today, all 50 states have laws regarding the humane treatment of domestic animals, pets, and wildlife. Mistreatment of animals can result in serious criminal penalties, although not as severe as those for crimes against human beings.

What Is Animal Cruelty?

Animal cruelty is the intentional mistreatment of any animal. Acts of animal cruelty can include neglect, hoarding situations, and poor animal husbandry practices. Let’s examine each one.

Neglect

The broad category of neglect can include:

• Failure to provide food, water, or reasonable shelter
• Failing to provide necessary veterinary care
• Failing to provide sanitary conditions

Assessing neglect depends on circumstances. Reasonable shelter and veterinary care differ under state law for livestock or domestic pets. Range cattle do not have the same needs as apartment-dwelling dogs.

Abuse and Physical Exploitation

These laws encompass what most people consider “animal abuse.” Treating animals in an inhumane manner, torture, or intentionally causing an animal physical pain is unlawful in all states, including:

• Deliberately and intentionally beating, mutilating, wounding, or torturing an animal
• “Blood sports” like dog fighting, cockfighting, and other animal fighting
• Poisoning animals or leaving poisoned items (such as antifreeze) with the intent of killing animals
• Trapping or hunting in violation of state laws, and in a manner that causes unnecessary pain or suffering to the animals

Although state and federal laws permit the use of animal testing for medical purposes, medical researchers are legally and ethically bound to design experiments that limit unnecessary suffering for research animals. Many states restrict testing on nonhuman primates such as chimpanzees.

Some states and many countries have banned steel-jawed leghold traps for commercial and recreational trapping. The states that permit them have strict regulations on the number of traps and how often trappers must check their lines.

Animal Mutilation

At one time, owners believed that cropping a dog’s ears or docking its tail was necessary for the animal’s health. However, these are now recognized as cosmetic alterations with no broad health benefits. There is no reason to crop a dog’s ears or declaw a cat unless a veterinarian recommends it for health reasons.

California, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, Rhode Island, Virginia, and the District of Columbia have all enacted laws prohibiting the declawing of cats.

Inhumane Confinement

Confinement laws primarily focus on domestic livestock. For example, California’s laws mandate minimum space requirements for veal calves, laying hens, and hogs, and ban the sale of food products from states that do not meet these requirements.

Other states have similar bans, including:

• Gestation crates, which prevent sows from moving freely in their pens when they have litters
• Veal crates or pens, which similarly limit the movement of veal calves
• “Battery” cages for chickens, which are being phased out in favor of free-range chickens

Other types of confinement laws for animals apply to pet stores, breeding facilities, and the restraint of animals for transport. These can include:

• Tethering or chaining: The tether must be set up in a way that prevents the animal from becoming entangled or trapped in it
• Access to necessities: Restrained animals must have access to food, water, and shelter
• Punitive collars: Some jurisdictions have laws prohibiting the use of choke collars, prong collars, or other types of punishment collars on restrained animals
• Crate size: A crate used to transport a dog or other animal must be large enough for the animal to move freely and lacking any objects that could injure the animal

Hoarding

Hoarding is a form of animal cruelty in which an individual collects more animals than they can reasonably care for and maintain. By the time animal control learns of the situation, the animal hoarder may have upward of several hundred animals living in appalling conditions.

Hoarders often face criminal charges due to the extreme neglect their animals endure. They also often violate public health laws due to unsanitary conditions in their homes.

Hoarders fall into three general categories:

• Overwhelmed caregivers: These individuals may cope with a large number of animals until something else happens, such as illness or job loss. They are often amenable to intervention and treatment programs.
• Unlicensed breeders: Puppy-mill owners sometimes are classified as hoarders. These individuals keep their animals in poor conditions with little care for their well-being, with their goal being to breed puppies for sale until law enforcement steps in. Prosecuting these individuals can be challenging, as the enforcement of pet store laws and puppy mill bans varies from one jurisdiction to another.
• Psychiatric cases: These individuals may believe they are providing their animals with love and care, but the sheer number prevents them from doing so. These hoarders may have upward of 100 animals, with the most common being dogs, cats, horses, or birds. They can be criminally prosecuted, but often are better candidates for psychological counseling and long-term therapy.

Intent carries significant weight when determining animal cruelty charges.

Criminal Charges for Animal Cruelty

State or county animal control officers investigate and charge individuals who abuse animals. State animal cruelty laws range from misdemeanors to felonies.

In general, intentionally causing physical harm or deliberately causing the death of an animal without cause is a felony in most states. For example, dog fighting is often a felony charge, and operating a dog fight that results in the deaths of dogs is an additional charge.

On the other hand, leaving a dog outside at night in the rain might only be simple neglect, subject to a fine. Animal cruelty charges hinge on:

• The defendant’s intent towards the animal
• The nature of the offense
• The defendant’s willingness to change their behavior

In many cases, a first offense may result in fines, probation, and bans on owning animals in the future. More serious charges can result in prison sentences. These include:

• The Federal PACT Act (Preventing Animal Cruelty and Torture) bans the creation of so-called “crush videos” and the underlying abuse used to create them. Violation of the PACT Act can result in up to seven years’ imprisonment.
• The Lacey Act, one of the oldest animal protection laws on the books, prohibits the importation or trafficking of harmful wildlife into the United States. Violation can be a misdemeanor or a felony, depending on the circumstances of the crime.
• The Animal Welfare Act sets minimum standards for the care and breeding of animals used in research, agriculture, and breeding facilities. Penalties include fines of up to $10,000 per violation, rescission of lab licensing, and other penalties.

State laws often mirror federal laws but may have stricter penalties than federal regulations. For instance, California’s animal cruelty laws provide for imprisonment up to three years, fines of up to $20,000, seizure of the defendant’s animals, and revocation of professional licenses.

How To Report Suspected Animal Cruelty

If you witness or suspect animal cruelty, report it to the proper authorities. Do not attempt to intervene yourself, as this can be dangerous and may compromise an official investigation. Instead, contact your local animal control agency, humane society, or police department.

When making a report, be prepared to provide specific details. These can include the location, date, and time of the incident, a description of the people and animals involved, and any photo or video evidence you were able to safely collect.

Need Legal Advice?

If facing charges of animal cruelty, it’s a good idea to contact a criminal defense attorney in your state. Most states take these charges very seriously, and a conviction can lead to fines and other severe consequences.

If you have questions about animal abuse or neglect laws and other related legal issues, consider these resources:

• What Can I Do If My Neighbor’s Animals Are Creating a Problem?
• Is It Legal to Break a Car Window to Rescue an Animal?
• Exotic Animal Laws by State
• Is It Legal to Release a Wild Animal?
• Does the Type of Animal Affect a Bite Injury Case?