Trump administration launches multi-agency strike force to crack down on animal abuse
Bondi, Rollins and Kennedy lead an interagency push to enforce animal-welfare laws, expand prosecutor training and pursue tougher penalties
The Trump administration on Saturday announced a multi-agency strike force to crack down on animal abuse, coordinating actions across the Justice Department, the Agriculture Department and the Health and Human Services Department. Officials said the effort will designate U.S. attorneys in every state to prosecute animal cruelty cases and strengthen training for prosecutors and law enforcement on how to pursue such offenses. Attorney General Pam Bondi said the administration is forming a strike force and will have designated U.S. attorneys in every state to prosecute these cases, a push she framed as enforcing accountability for violators.
Bondi appeared with Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to discuss the interagency animal welfare initiative on Fox News. Bondi said the Justice Department would work with the USDA to provide specialized training for prosecutors and law enforcement agents on executing search warrants in animal-abuse investigations. She cited a recent case in which 190 dogs were seized from a single defendant, describing the seizure as evidence that “no one is above the law.”
Rollins said the USDA is tightening enforcement of the Animal Welfare Act, moving from warnings to stricter enforcement. She said compliance under the Act, which dates to the 1960s, had hovered around the mid-60s to high-60s percent and is now approaching 92 percent, with the focus on the remaining noncompliant operators. She described mass-breeding facilities where dogs are kept in overcrowded conditions and highlighted the need to shut down abusive puppy mills, including a stark image of the worst conditions prosecutors and investigators are aiming to end.
Kennedy, who oversees HHS, said all major sub-agencies within his department are committed to ending animal experimentation and that new research shows the predictive value of animal models for human health outcomes is often low. He said the administration is prioritizing computational modeling and artificial intelligence to better predict human health results. Kennedy noted that there are about 100,000 primates in U.S. research laboratories and another 20,000 imported each year, a situation he described as unacceptable and one the department aims to reform. He said HHS is re-educating researchers to improve the predictability of health outcomes and to reduce reliance on animal testing where possible, including exploring alternatives to primate testing.
In September, the National Institutes of Health changed its rules to ensure funding could be used to retire primates to sanctuaries after experimentation, a shift Kennedy framed as part of a broader effort to reform research practices. The NIH policy change aligns with a goal of expanding sanctuaries nationwide so animals used in research can be retired rather than euthanized once studies end. Kennedy tied this development to the interagency push, saying that practical changes in funding and policy support a more humane approach to animal research while seeking better scientific outcomes.
Kennedy framed animal welfare as a reflection of the nation’s character, saying, “The badge of a really humane nation is the way that it takes care of its animals.” He described the interagency effort as a coordinated, long-term commitment to enforce the law, improve the welfare of animals in research and industry, and pursue alternatives to more invasive practices whenever possible. The Trump administration’s team stressed that the initiative will evolve with input from prosecutors, scientists and welfare advocates as it expands training, oversight and enforcement nationwide.
As the administration advanced the plan, officials signaled that the strategy would be reviewed and adjusted to address evolving cases and technologies in animal welfare and biomedical research, with an emphasis on transparency and accountability across agencies. The interagency strike force is designed to operate with designated prosecutors in states across the country, enhanced enforcement of existing laws, and a continued push toward humane practices in both animal care and scientific testing.
