Inside Pam Bondi's aggressive push to crack down on animal cruelty crimes

Politics Inside Pam Bondi's aggressive push to crack down on animal cruelty crimes By Sarah N. Lynch Sarah N. Lynch Senior Justice Department Reporter Sarah N. Lynch is the senior Justice Department reporter for CBS News, based in Washington, D.C. Read Full Bio Sarah N. Lynch April 9, 2026 / 4:23 PM EDT / CBS News Add CBS News on Google In early 2026, then-Attorney General Pam Bondi's Justice Department took an unusually rapid approach to animal welfare enforcement, as part of her push to use the criminal justice system to crack down on animal cruelty.Around New Year's Eve, Bondi received a voicemail and a text from her friend Lauree Simmons, the founder of the Florida-based Big Dog Ranch Rescue, who told her that a German Shepherd breeder in East Texas was shooting her dogs, sources with direct knowledge told CBS News. Simmons also texted another friend, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, to alert her.In less than two weeks, Bondi's office assembled a multi-agency team, and USDA agents executed a search warrant at the property of breeder Kristine Hicks, who was already facing state cruelty charges.Hicks' dogs were seized and eventually shipped to Big Dog Ranch Rescue for adoption. She was indicted in March on a misdemeanor of operating without a USDA license and a felony wire fraud count stemming from her misrepresentation of the dogs' lineage to buyers. USDA investigators uncovered her false statements about the dogs when they conducted DNA tests — a highly unusual investigative step — according to multiple sources who spoke with CBS News, the indictment shows.A lawyer for Hicks declined to comment.Several of the rescue dogs appeared in a video with Bondi, Simmons and Lara Trump, one of the group's board members. "We have over 100 that need to be adopted," Bondi said. "Come on, we've got to get all of these beautiful babies adopted." The same week that Hicks appeared in court, Bondi stood on stage at the Justice Department and presented Simmons...