[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1478 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
107th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 1478
To amend the Animal Welfare Act to improve the treatment of certain
animals, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
October 1, 2001
Mr. Santorum (for himself, Mr. Durbin, Mr. Warner, Mr. Smith of New
Hampshire, Mr. Levin, Mr. Miller, Mr. Lieberman, Mr. Breaux, and Mr.
Kennedy) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and
referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Animal Welfare Act to improve the treatment of certain
animals, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Puppy Protection Act of 2001''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds that--
(1) puppies in the United States are mass-produced at
breeding facilities known as ``puppy mills'';
(2) those puppies are typically sold at 8 weeks of age to
retail operations or to live animal brokers that subsequently
sell the puppies to retail operations;
(3) there are more than 3,000 commercial dog breeding
operations in the United States;
(4) problems documented at puppy mills include--
(A) overcrowding in cages;
(B) lack of protection from the elements;
(C) infestation of food by rodents or insects;
(D) overbreeding;
(E) inbreeding;
(F) lack of proper veterinary care;
(G) lack of socialization with humans; and
(H) the killing of unwanted animals;
(5) lack of early socialization seriously affects a dog's
ability to function as part of a human family and contributes
to behavior problems such as aggression;
(6) factors contributing to the declining health of female
dogs and litters include--
(A) the breeding of female dogs during the first
estrus cycle when the female dogs are not fully mature;
and
(B) the breeding of female dogs each estrus cycle
without sufficient rest between litters;
(7) the Department of Agriculture is responsible for
inspecting those facilities using a set of regulations for care
and treatment of the puppies and dogs promulgated under the
Animal Welfare Act (7 U.S.C. 2131 et seq.);
(8) those facilities continue to operate despite repeated
violations of the regulations cited by Department of
Agriculture inspectors; and
(9) consumers purchase from retail operations puppies that
are believed to be healthy and genetically sound, but that--
(A) suffer from an array of physical and behavioral
problems after purchase; or
(B) harbor genetic diseases and deficiencies that
may not surface until several years later.
SEC. 3. SOCIALIZATION PLAN; BREEDING RESTRICTIONS.
Section 13(a)(2) of the Animal Welfare Act (7 U.S.C. 2143(a)(2)) is
amended--
(1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ``and'' at the end;
(2) in subparagraph (B), by striking the period at the end
and inserting a semicolon; and
(3) by adding at the end the following:
``(C) for the development of an engineering
standard, including a written plan of activities, based
on the recommendations of animal welfare and behavior
experts, for the socialization of dogs to facilitate
contact with other dogs and people; and
``(D) for addressing the initiation and frequency
of breeding female dogs so that a female dog is not
bred--
``(i) before the female dog has reached at
least 1 year of age; and
``(ii) more frequently than 3 times in any
24-month period.''.
SEC. 4. REVOCATION OF LICENSE.
Section 19 of the Animal Welfare Act (7 U.S.C. 2149) is amended--
(1) by striking ``Sec. 19. (a) If the Secretary'' and
inserting the following:
``SEC. 19. SUSPENSION OR REVOCATION OF LICENSE, CIVIL PENALTIES,
JUDICIAL REVIEW, AND CRIMINAL PENALTIES.
``(a) Suspension or Revocation of License.--
``(1) In general.--If the Secretary'';
(2) in subsection (a)--
(A) in paragraph (1) (as designated by paragraph
(1)), by striking ``if such violation'' and all that
follows and inserting ``if the Secretary determines
that 1 or more violations have occurred.''; and
(B) by adding at the end the following:
``(2) Mandatory revocation.--If any person licensed as a
dealer, exhibitor, or operator of an auction sale subject to
section 12, is found, after notice and opportunity for hearing,
to have violated any of the rules, regulations, or standards
governing the humane handling, transportation, veterinary care,
housing, breeding, socialization, feeding, watering, or other
humane treatment of animals under section 12 or 13 on 3 or more
separate occasions within any 8-year period, the Secretary, on
finding a third violation, shall revoke the license of the
person unless the Secretary makes a written finding that the
violations were minor and inadvertent, that the violations did
not pose a threat to the animals, or that revocation is
inappropriate for other good cause.'';
(3) in subsection (b), by striking ``(b) Any dealer'' and
inserting ``(b) Civil Penalties.--Any dealer'';
(4) in subsection (c), by striking ``(c) Any dealer'' and
inserting ``(c) Judicial Review.--Any dealer''; and
(5) in subsection (d), by striking ``(d) Any dealer'' and
inserting ``(d) Criminal Penalties.--Any dealer''.
SEC. 5. REGULATIONS.
Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the
Secretary of Agriculture shall promulgate such regulations as are
necessary to carry out the amendments made by this Act, including
development of the standards required by the amendment made by section
3.
<all>
Introduced in Senate
Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S9974-9980)
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.
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