Pet Safety and Protection Act of 2023

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 208 To amend the Animal Welfare Act to ensure that all dogs and cats used by research facilities are obtained legally. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JANUARY 9, 2023 Mr. SMITH of New Jersey (for himself, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr. FITZPATRICK, and Mr. GOTTHEIMER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture A BILL To amend the Animal Welfare Act to ensure that all dogs and cats used by research facilities are obtained legally. 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 ‘‘Pet Safety and Protec- 4 tion Act of 2023’’. 5 SEC. 2. PROTECTION OF PETS. 6 (a) RESEARCH FACILITIES.—Section 7 of the Animal 7 Welfare Act (7 U.S.C. 2137) is amended to read as fol- 8 lows: 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:09 Jan 19, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H208.IH H208 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 208 IH ‘‘SEC. 7. SOURCES OF DOGS AND CATS FOR RESEARCH FA- 1 CILITIES. 2 ‘‘(a) DEFINITION OF PERSON.—In this section, the 3 term ‘person’ means any individual, partnership, firm, 4 joint stock company, corporation, association, trust, es- 5 tate, pound, shelter, or other legal entity. 6 ‘‘(b) USE OF DOGS AND CATS.—No research facility 7 or Federal research facility may use a dog or cat for re- 8 search or educational purposes if the dog or cat was ob- 9 tained from a person other than a person described in sub- 10 section (d). 11 ‘‘(c) SELLING, DONATING, OR OFFERING DOGS AND 12 CATS.—No person, other than a person described in sub- 13 section (d), may sell, donate, or offer a dog or cat to any 14 research facility or Federal research facility. 15 ‘‘(d) PERMISSIBLE SOURCES.—A person from whom 16 a research facility or a Federal research facility may ob- 17 tain a dog or cat for research or educational purposes 18 under subsection (b), and a person who may sell, donate, 19 or offer a dog or cat to a research facility or a Federal 20 research facility under subsection (c), shall be— 21 ‘‘(1) a dealer licensed under section 3 that has 22 bred and raised the dog or cat; 23 ‘‘(2) a publicly owned and operated pound or 24 shelter that— 25 ‘‘(A) is registered with the Secretary; 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:09 Jan 19, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H208.IH H208 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 208 IH ‘‘(B) is in compliance with section 28(a)(1) 1 and with the requirements for dealers in sub- 2 sections (b) and (c) of section 28; and 3 ‘‘(C) obtained the dog or cat from its legal 4 owner, other than a pound or shelter; 5 ‘‘(3) a person that is donating the dog or cat 6 and that— 7 ‘‘(A) bred and raised the dog or cat; or 8 ‘‘(B) owned the dog or cat for not less 9 than 1 year immediately preceding the dona- 10 tion; 11 ‘‘(4) a research facility licensed by the Sec- 12 retary; and 13 ‘‘(5) a Federal research facility licensed by the 14 Secretary. 15 ‘‘(e) PENALTIES.— 16 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A person that violates this 17 section shall be fined $1,000 for each violation. 18 ‘‘(2) ADDITIONAL PENALTY.—A penalty under 19 this subsection shall be in addition to any other ap- 20 plicable penalty. 21 ‘‘(f) NO REQUIRED SALE OR DONATION.—Nothing 22 in this section requires a pound or shelter to sell, donate, 23 or offer a dog or cat to a research facility or Federal re- 24 search facility.’’. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:09 Jan 19, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H208.IH H208 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 208 IH (b) FEDERAL RESEARCH FACILITIES.—Section 8 of 1 the Animal Welfare Act (7 U.S.C. 2138) is amended— 2 (1) by striking ‘‘Sec. 8. No department’’ and 3 inserting the following: 4 ‘‘SEC. 8. FEDERAL RESEARCH FACILITIES. 5 ‘‘Except as provided in section 7, no department’’; 6 (2) by striking ‘‘research or experimentation 7 or’’; and 8 (3) by striking ‘‘such purposes’’ and inserting 9 ‘‘that purpose’’. 10 (c) CERTIFICATION.—Section 28(b)(1) of the Animal 11 Welfare Act (7 U.S.C. 2158(b)(1)) is amended by striking 12 ‘‘individual or entity’’ and inserting ‘‘research facility or 13 Federal research facility’’. 14 SEC. 3. EFFECTIVE DATE. 15 The amendments made by section 2 take effect on 16 the date that is 90 days after the date of enactment of 17 this Act. 18 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:09 Jan 19, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H208.IH H208 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS