ANIMAL ENTERPRISE TERRORISM ACT

Introduction

In 1992, Congress passed the “Animal Enterprise Protection Act.” This law makes it a federal crime to steal animals, damage property, or generally disrupt activities involving animals, including rodeos, horse shows and other equine competitions. The AHC was a major supporter of the legislation and worked hard along with other industry groups to make sure that the final legislation protected horse events.

Senate Legislation

On October 27, 2005, Senator James Inhofe (R-OK) introduced the “Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act of 2005” (S.1926), which updates the 1992 law. The bill expands the authority of the Department of Justice to deal with the recent trends in the animal rights terrorist movements.

Animal rights terrorists have apparently changed their activities to take advantage of the ambiguities in the present statute. This has made investigations and prosecutions more difficult. This legislation would broaden present law (1) to protect not only property that is connected with an animal enterprise but also a supplier and its property from intentional actions and damage by animal rights terrorists; (2) to prohibit threats and injury to employees, individuals and families involved with animal enterprises and increase the penalties for intentionally causing a person physical or economic harm; and (3) to expand the protections to include commercial enterprises that use or sell animals or animal products, including animal shelters, breeders, pet stores and furriers.

The Senate bill was referred to the Judiciary Committee.

House Legislation

On November 4, 2005, Representative Tom Petri (R-WI) introduced companion legislation in the House (H.R. 4239). The bill was referred to the House Judiciary Committee.

Congressional Action

On May 23, 2006, the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security held a hearing on this bill. There were several witnesses, including a representative of the Department of Justice who testified that the Department supported the bill. He stated that the Department considered animal rights terrorists to be very dangerous and noted that these individuals had changed their destructive activities and were using different forms of intimidation specifically to avoid the prohibitions of the current law. He said that the changes called for in this bill would update the current law to make it clear that it applies to the recent trends in animal rights extremism. He testified that it would enhance the Department’s ability to respond to the new domestic threats.

AHC Position

The AHC supports this legislation.