The FBI is offering a $5,000 reward to anyone who tips off authorities to animal abuse in Los Angeles that leads prosecution under a federal law — as the issue plagues the city’s notoriously derelict Skid Row.
Officials are asking eagle-eyed Angelenos to report abuse to a tip line to help root out violators of 2019’s Preventing Animal Cruelty and Torture (PACT) Act, which targets extreme acts of animal abuse.
Within Los Angeles, Skid Row is known for some of the most horrific crimes against animals.
Advocates say abusers there have done horrific things to animals, like testing their drugs on them to make sure they’re not laced with fentanyl.
“Every day we get another call, saying people are trying to sell their dog for drugs, and this dog is dying on the streets,” Joey Tuccio, a volunteer with Starts With One Today, told KTLA.
In one instance, rescuers treated a dog with severe injuries to one eye and a leg. The dog’s owner was trying to dissect its leg with tweezers while under the influence of drugs, an advocate said.
The PACT Act criminalizes animal abuse and “animal crushing” videos that depict obscene animal abuse.
“Animal crushing” is a nightmarish porn fetish practice in which women are videotaped or photographed mutilating small animals for the sexual gratification of viewers, the Department of Justice said in a 2015 conviction of a Houston woman for the crime.
Those who have information about animal abuse should email the FBI at LA-AnimalCrimesTipline@ic.fbi.gov. Successful tips will include “photographs, videos, dates, times, locations, and a description of who is committing these crimes,” the Justice Department said.
Emails will be reviewed by the Animal Abuse Task Force, which is focused on “serious animal abuse crimes” within the Central District of California, which includes Los Angeles and Orange Counties.
Advancing Law for Animals lawyer Vanessa Shakib praised the new tip line.
“Los Angeles officials have failed the animals bred, trafficked, and abused on Skid Row,” she told The California Post. “I applaud federal law enforcement for taking action following our meeting and launching a new animal abuse tip line. Because local authorities are asleep at the wheel on animal abuse documented on Skid Row, we need stronger, more decisive action at the federal level.”
The tip line was launched as LA has been killing more shelter animals than ever, spending money to euthanize instead of enforcing preventative measures.
A staggering 2,172 sheltered cats, kittens and dogs were killed through May of this year — compared to 1,630 during the same period in 2025 — a 33% increase, according to LA Animal Service statistics.
The same data shows the euthanasia rates increased 27% between May 2025 and May 2026 alone.
