Keeping Pets and Families Together Act

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3709 To amend the Animal Welfare Act to direct the Secretary of Agriculture to enter into cooperative agreements to support the microchipping of dogs and cats in the care of animal shelters or similar establishments, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 25, 2023 Mr. LIEU (for himself, Ms. TLAIB, and Mr. MOSKOWITZ) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture A BILL To amend the Animal Welfare Act to direct the Secretary of Agriculture to enter into cooperative agreements to support the microchipping of dogs and cats in the care of animal shelters or similar establishments, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Keeping Pets and 4 Families Together Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:30 Jun 20, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3709.IH H3709 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •HR 3709 IH SEC. 2. COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS TO SUPPORT MICRO- 1 CHIPPING OF DOGS AND CATS. 2 The Animal Welfare Act (7 U.S.C. 2131 et seq.) is 3 amended by inserting after section 28 (7 U.S.C. 2158) 4 the following: 5 ‘‘SEC. 28A. COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS TO SUPPORT 6 MICROCHIPPING OF DOGS AND CATS. 7 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the availability of ap- 8 propriations, the Secretary shall establish a program 9 under which the Secretary will enter into cooperative 10 agreements with State and local governments for purposes 11 of supporting the capability of entities described in sub- 12 section (b) to provide for microchipping of dogs and cats 13 in their care before allowing such dogs or cats to be recov- 14 ered by their original owner, adopted by other individuals, 15 or transferred to another animal shelter or rescue organi- 16 zation. 17 ‘‘(b) ENTITIES DESCRIBED.—An entity described in 18 this subsection is— 19 ‘‘(1) each pound or shelter owned and operated 20 by a State or a unit of local government; and 21 ‘‘(2) each private entity established for the pur- 22 pose of caring for animals, such as a humane soci- 23 ety, or other organization that is under contract 24 with a State or a unit of local government that oper- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:30 Jun 20, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3709.IH H3709 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •HR 3709 IH ates as a pound or shelter and that releases animals 1 on a voluntary basis. 2 ‘‘(c) UNIT OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT DEFINED.—In 3 this section, the term ‘unit of local government’ means a 4 county, municipality, town, township, village, or other unit 5 of general government below the State level; 6 ‘‘(d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 7 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 8 $5,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2024 through 2028.’’. 9 SEC. 3. REPORT ON EFFECTIVENESS OF MICROCHIPPING 10 PROGRAM. 11 Not later than December 31, 2028, the Secretary of 12 Agriculture shall submit to the Committee on Agriculture 13 of the House of Representatives and the Committee on 14 Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate a re- 15 port that— 16 (1) assesses the effectiveness of the program es- 17 tablished under section 28A of the Animal Welfare 18 Act, as added by section 2; 19 (2) contains the Secretary’s recommendation on 20 whether to extend such program for an additional 5- 21 fiscal-year period; and 22 (3) the amount of funding necessary to effec- 23 tively extend such program over such period. 24 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:30 Jun 20, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3709.IH H3709 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB