(CNN) The House has unanimously passed a bill that makes animal cruelty a federal felony.

The PACT Act -- which stands for Preventing Animal Cruelty and Torture -- was approved by the House on Tuesday. The bipartisan act, introduced by Florida congressmen Ted Deutch and Vern Buchanan, will revise a previous law passed in 2010.

"The torture of innocent animals is abhorrent and should be punished to the fullest extent of the law," Buchanan said . "Passing the PACT Act sends a strong message that this behavior will not be tolerated."

Currently, federal law only explicitly prohibits animal fighting, and only criminalizes wrongdoers when they create and sell videos depicting the actual animal cruelty.

The PACT Act allows authorities to go after the wrongdoers because they will have federal jurisdiction and will not be bound by state laws. They can also prosecute criminals if the cruelty occurs on federal property.

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