II 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3737 

To direct the Attorney General to conduct a study on animal cruelty, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 6, 2024 

Mr. PETERS (for himself and Mr. TILLIS) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To direct the Attorney General to conduct a study on animal 

cruelty, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Animal Violence Ex5 poses Real Threat of Future Violence Act of 2024’’ or the 

6 ‘‘AVERT Future Violence Act of 2024’’. 

7 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

8 In this Act: 

9 (1) ANIMAL CRUELTY.—The term ‘‘animal cru10 elty’’— 


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1 (A) means— 

2 (i) intentionally, knowingly, or reck3 lessly harming or killing an animal, includ4 ing maiming, mutilating, torturing, wound5 ing, poisoning, engaging in animal fight6 ing, and sexually abusing an animal, or at7 tempting to do so; or 

8 (ii) intentionally or knowingly neglect9 ing or depriving an animal of necessary 

10 sustenance or shelter, or attempting to do 

11 so; and 

12 (B) does not include any conduct that is— 

13 (i) customary and normal veterinary, 

14 agricultural husbandry, or other animal 

15 management practice; 

16 (ii) the slaughter of animals for food; 

17 (iii) hunting, trapping, fishing, a 

18 sporting activity not otherwise prohibited 

19 by Federal law, predator control, or pest 

20 control; 

21 (iv) medical or scientific research; 

22 (v) necessary to protect the life of a 

23 person; or 

24 (vi) performed as part of euthanizing 

25 an animal. 


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1 (2) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti2 ty’’ means— 

3 (A) a State; 

4 (B) a unit of local government; 

5 (C) a State or local court (including a ju6 venile court); 

7 (D) an Indian Tribe; or 

8 (E) any other organization that has a doc9 umented history of effective work identifying, 

10 intervening in, preventing, reducing, or other11 wise responding to animal cruelty, or animal 

12 cruelty as related to interpersonal violence (as 

13 determined by the Secretary), including— 

14 (i) any organization that works di15 rectly with or on behalf of pets, service 

16 animals, emotional support animals, or 

17 horses and collaborates with any organiza18 tion referred to in subparagraphs (A) 

19 through (D), including— 

20 (I) an animal shelter; and 

21 (II) an animal welfare organiza22 tion; 

23 (ii) any organization that provides 

24 mental health services to perpetrators and 

25 survivors of crime; 


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1 (iii) any organization that develops 

2 and provides training programs for law en3 forcement, judges, prosecutors, other court 

4 personnel, veterinarians, or mental health 

5 professionals; 

6 (iv) a domestic violence and sexual as7 sault victim service provider; 

8 (v) a domestic violence and sexual as9 sault coalition; 

10 (vi) a child abuse victim service pro11 vider; 

12 (vii) a provider of services to families 

13 under the supervision of the courts or de14 partments of child and family services; 

15 (viii) an elder abuse victim service 

16 provider; 

17 (ix) a community-based and culturally 

18 specific organization; and 

19 (x) any other nonprofit, nongovern20 mental organization. 

21 SEC. 3. STUDY ON ANIMAL CRUELTY, UNDERLYING FAC22 TORS, AND FUTURE ACTS OF HUMAN VIO23 LENCE. 

24 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 3 years after the 

25 date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney General, actVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:20 Feb 08, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3737.IS S3737

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1 ing through the Director of the National Institute of Jus2 tice, shall carry out a study— 

3 (1) on the underlying factors that contribute to 

4 acts of animal cruelty committed by individuals; and 

5 (2) that analyzes acts of animal cruelty as a 

6 predictor of future violence against humans. 

7 (b) CONTENT OF STUDY.—In carrying out the study 

8 under subsection (a), the Director of the National Insti9 tute of Justice shall— 

10 (1) specifically examine, through a review of 

11 scientific literature, original research, and expert 

12 input, as appropriate— 

13 (A) evidence-informed risk factors associ14 ated or correlated with individuals who commit 

15 acts of animal cruelty; 

16 (B) whether certain acts of animal cruelty 

17 can be correlated with certain evidence-in18 formed risk factors (such as whether the acts of 

19 animal torturing, tormenting, mutilation, maim20 ing, poisoning, organized abuse, such as animal 

21 fighting, sexual abuse, abandonment, or neglect, 

22 are associated with the same or different evi23 dence-informed risk factors); 


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1 (C) whether certain acts of animal cruelty 

2 demonstrate a tendency or likelihood to commit 

3 a future act of violence against humans; 

4 (D) the types of violence against humans 

5 most commonly associated with certain acts of 

6 animal cruelty (such as domestic violence and 

7 assault); and 

8 (E) recommendations of areas in which fu9 ture research on animal cruelty is needed; and 

10 (2) develop best practices for— 

11 (A) early interventions that prevent acts of 

12 animal cruelty; and 

13 (B) interventions with individuals who 

14 have committed acts of animal cruelty to pre15 vent future acts of violence. 

16 (c) RECOMMENDATIONS.—The Director of the Na17 tional Institute of Justice shall submit to Congress a re18 port containing the specific policy recommendations, based 

19 on the study conducted under this section, for legislative 

20 and regulatory action at the Federal, State, and local lev21 els to— 

22 (1) address the evidence-informed risk factors 

23 that may contribute to acts of animal cruelty com24 mitted by individuals; and 


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1 (2) develop effective interventions and diversion 

2 strategies for both juvenile and non-juvenile offend3 ers who have been convicted of criminal offenses in4 volving animal cruelty that reduce the likelihood of 

5 offenders committing future violent acts against 

6 both humans and animals. 

7 SEC. 4. STOP FUTURE VIOLENCE GRANT PROGRAM. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General is author9 ized to establish a grant program to provide assistance to 

10 eligible entities to develop and strengthen effective detec11 tion strategies, and early intervention or diversion re12 sources, to stop acts of animal cruelty and rehabilitate of13 fenders. 

14 (b) USE OF FUNDS.—A grant awarded under this 

15 section may be used to provide personnel, training, tech16 nical assistance, data collection, and other resources for 

17 the apprehension, prosecution, adjudication, and mental 

18 and behavioral health treatment of persons committing 

19 acts of animal cruelty, for the rehabilitation of perpetra20 tors and the prevention of future acts of animal cruelty 

21 or violence against humans, and specifically, for the pur22 poses of— 

23 (1) training law enforcement officers, judges, 

24 other court personnel, prosecutors, and mental 


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1 health professionals to more effectively identify and 

2 respond to acts of animal cruelty; 

3 (2) developing, training, or expanding units of 

4 law enforcement officers, judges, other court per5 sonnel, prosecutors, and mental health professionals 

6 specifically addressing acts of animal cruelty; 

7 (3) developing and implementing more effective 

8 police, court, prosecution, mental health, and early 

9 intervention policies, protocols, orders, and services 

10 specifically devoted to preventing, identifying, and 

11 responding to acts of animal cruelty; and 

12 (4) developing, installing, or expanding data 

13 collection and communication systems, including 

14 computerized systems, linking police, prosecutors, 

15 and courts, or for the purpose of identifying, 

16 classifying, and tracking arrests, protection orders, 

17 violations of protection orders, prosecutions, and 

18 convictions for acts of animal cruelty. 

19 SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

20 There are authorized to be appropriated— 

21 (1) for the purposes of carrying out section 3, 

22 $2,000,000 for fiscal year 2024, to remain available 

23 until expended; and 


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1 (2) for the purposes of carrying out section 4, 

2 $2,000,000 for fiscal year 2024, to remain available 

3 until expended. 

Æ 


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