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

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 relinquished her dogs, and they were 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.

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 with an award for providing “exceptionally helpful assistance to the Department in high-visibility litigation,” according to sources with direct knowledge and photos posted by Big Dog Ranch Rescue. 

Bondi’s counsel Henry Whitaker stood next to them, holding a German Shepherd he adopted from the case that is now a frequent guest at the Justice Department. 

The Texas case appears to be among the first of its kind, in what represents a faster and much more aggressive approach to animal welfare enforcement than the federal government has historically taken, animal welfare experts say. 

Sources familiar with the inspection process by the USDA also told CBS News there has also been an uptick in interest in taking enforcement action against violations involving dogs. In some cases, USDA has been more proactive about suspending or revoking licenses after finding egregious welfare violations, whereas in the past such a move could have taken years to achieve, one of the sources added.

At the same time, Big Dog Ranch Rescue’s involvement could raise questions about its seemingly outsized role in Bondi’s animal welfare initiative, which has included everything from helping shape the government’s agenda to making criminal and civil referrals to both DOJ and USDA, sources say.

In the lead-up to Bondi’s animal welfare policy announcement in February, Big Dog Ranch Rescue was involved in discussions about the plans to create a law enforcement “tiger team” to assist with the execution of search warrants and seizures, government records show.

The rescue also participates in a newly created “Animal Welfare Executive Strategy Team,” according to Simmons, which is mostly made up of Justice Department officials who are supposed to devise enforcement strategies and coordination efforts.

On Wednesday, Simmons spoke along with Bondi and Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche at a training and animal welfare summit for federal prosecutors at the DOJ’s National Advocacy Center in South Carolina, several sources said, in what is likely to mark Bondi’s last event before she formally steps down, after President Trump ousted her as attorney general last week.

“An attorney general should try to avoid any appearance where your personal preferences, your personal predilections and your contacts with your friends are a major motivating factor in which crimes to pursue and prosecute,” said Gene Rossi, a former federal prosecutor.

“This is not about whether we like dogs. This is not about whether we like rescue dogs. Everyone, with few exceptions, loves dogs,” he added. “But this is about the priorities and the policies of the United States Department of Justice and the actions of the attorney general in executing her duties, and this appears to me that she is letting her personal relationships drive the priorities of the Department of Justice.”

Although many animal welfare advocates are optimistic about the federal government’s increased interest in the subject, Bondi’s initiative was launched without any input from many of the other more traditional animal welfare advocacy groups and appears to lack crucial regulatory elements, numerous legal experts on the subject told CBS News.

One of Big Dog Ranch Rescue’s board members, meanwhile, is also the target of an ongoing animal cruelty investigation in Florida, after she was accused of injecting a prescription drug into an elderly dog without a veterinary license or the owner’s permission last year, public records obtained by CBS News show.  She denies the allegations.

The Texas case appears to be among the first of its kind, in what represents a faster and much more aggressive approach to animal welfare enforcement than the federal government has historically taken, animal welfare experts say. 

In an interview with CBS News, Simmons said she met Bondi and Rollins years ago through their mutual interest in animal welfare advocacy efforts. She confirmed texting each of them about the woman shooting her dogs in Texas, adding that no formal tip line existed then to make such referrals.

“I wasn’t going to sleep that night,” she said. “They got it to the right people, and everyone jumped into action.”

“I feel strongly that this administration is taking animal welfare seriously,” she added. “For so, so many years, animal welfare issues got pushed under the rug… We’d report a bad puppy mill with abuse that never got investigated.”

She brushed aside questions about whether her personal friendships with senior government leaders could create ethical concerns about how cases are enforced and which ones get prosecuted.

“Stop that,” she said. “This is all about people that care about animals. I don’t care what party you’re with. We are a humane country and this needs to stop.”

A Justice Department spokesperson confirmed that Simmons contacted Bondi about the Texas case, after a video of Hicks shooting a dog went viral.