On November 25, the Preventing Animal Cruelty and Torture (PACT) Act passed by Congress was signed by President Trump. This new law extends federal jurisdiction to certain egregious forms of animal cruelty. John Thompson, executive director of the National Animal Care and Control Association and the most recent recipient of AWI’s Schweitzer Medal, was present for the signing in the Oval Office and had this to say: “Animals are changing in our society. It used to be they were ‘just animals’; now they are family members.” Thompson added that the law provides “another tool in the tool box of the men and women in animal control who go out there and fight every day. Sooner or later we’re going to put an end to this and the evil that comes with it.”