More than 20,000 animal cruelty and neglect charges were filed statewide in the two years after Libre’s Law went into effect in August 2017, according to data recently released by the Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts (AOPC).

Comprehensive Animal Cruelty Act 10 - the animal abuse reform statute commonly known as Libre’s Law – provided police and prosecutors with harsher charging options in cases of extreme abuse while still allowing for the filing of summary citations.

The statute also placed restrictions on tethering and provided grading options (felony, misdemeanor, summary) and different penalties based on the severity of abuse and neglect.

Act 10 was named after an abused Boston terrier (“Libre”) whose criminal case in Lancaster County was a launch point for reform.

The AOPC data shows more than half (52 percent) of the 21,206 post-Libre’s Law charges filed statewide through 2019 have been for neglect offenses.

Forty-one percent of the charges were for cruelty, while the remaining 7 percent were for aggravated cruelty, a felony created under Libre’s Law.

The AOPC’s report is here: LIBRE'S LAW REPORT.