LOS ANGELES - Acting United States Attorney Bill Essayli today announced the creation of a federal animal abuse task force aimed at prosecuting violations of the federal Preventing Animal Cruelty and Torture (PACT) Act signed into law by President Trump in 2019.

Those statutes criminalize engaging in animal abuse in or affecting interstate or foreign commerce and making "animal crush" videos that depict obscene animal abuse.

"Animal abuse is among the most heartbreaking and despicable type of crimes that law enforcement sees," said Acting United States Attorney Bill Essayli. "Together with our federal and local partners, my office intends to root out and punish those who profit from hurting animals."

The new task force will be led by federal prosecutors in the U.S. Attorney's Office's Environmental Crimes and Consumer Protection Section working in partnership with the FBI, the United States Department of Agriculture Office of Inspector General, the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office, the Los Angeles Police Department, Los Angeles City Animal Control, and other state and local law enforcement officers. The task force will focus on charging serious animal abuse throughout the Central District of California, the most populous federal district in the country.

The seven-county district is home to approximately 20 million residents and is comprised of the counties of Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, and Ventura.

Today, the group conducted a community outreach operation in the Skid Row area of Los Angeles, and conducted welfare checks on a dozen dogs ensuring they had access to clean water and food, looked for evidence of animal neglect and abuse, provided resources, collars, and leashes, and seized one dog who was abandoned by his owner.

To report animal abuse, please go to tips.fbi.gov or call 1-800-CALL-FBI.