Welfare of Our Friends Act of 2019 or the WOOF! Act
This bill establishes requirements to protect dogs from dog dealers who have had their licenses suspended or revoked in the last 10 years and certain individuals connected to such dog dealers. Specifically, the bill prohibits the Department of Agriculture (USDA) from licensing such a dealer if the license is for operating a facility that the dealer previously used for dogs. Further, for such a facility, USDA may not license (1) the dealer's immediate family members, (2) persons who reside at the same address as the dealer, or (3) certain legal entities where the dealer holds an ownership interest.
[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1002 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
116th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 1002
To amend the Animal Welfare Act to prohibit the issuance of licenses to
certain individuals connected to dealers of dogs who have had licenses
revoked, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
February 6, 2019
Mr. Fitzpatrick (for himself, Mr. Crist, Mr. Thompson of Pennsylvania,
and Mr. McGovern) introduced the following bill; which was referred to
the Committee on Agriculture
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Animal Welfare Act to prohibit the issuance of licenses to
certain individuals connected to dealers of dogs who have had licenses
revoked, 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 ``Welfare of Our Friends Act of 2019''
or the ``WOOF! Act''.
SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON ISSUING LICENSES TO CERTAIN PERSONS AS A RESULT
OF LICENSE REVOCATION.
(a) Definition.--Section 2 of the Animal Welfare Act (7 U.S.C.
2132) is amended by adding at the end the following:
``(p) The term `immediate family member' means, with respect to a
dealer--
``(1) a spouse, domestic partner, child, parent, brother,
sister, grandparent, or grandchild; and
``(2) a spouse of a child, parent, brother, sister,
grandparent, or grandchild.''.
(b) Prohibition on Issuing Licenses to Certain Persons as a Result
of License Revocation.--Section 3 of the Animal Welfare Act (7 U.S.C.
2133) is amended--
(1) by striking ``The Secretary shall'' and inserting ``(a)
In General.--The Secretary shall'';
(2) by striking ``issued'' and inserting ``issued or
renewed'';
(3) by striking ``demonstrated'' and inserting
``demonstrated through facility inspection''; and
(4) by adding at the end the following:
``(b) Prohibition on Issuing Licenses to Certain Persons as a
Result of License Suspension or Revocation.--(1) The Secretary shall
not issue or renew a license for the purpose of being a dealer of dogs
to a person who is an immediate family member of, or who resides at the
same address of, a dealer of dogs if--
``(A) the license is for purposes of operating a facility
for dogs at a location that such dealer has used as a facility
for dogs; and
``(B) within the last 10 years, a license of such dealer
has been suspended after notice and opportunity for hearing or
revoked pursuant to section 19(a) of this Act.
``(2) Paragraph (1) shall not apply to a person described in such
paragraph if such person shows by clear and convincing evidence that a
dealer described in paragraph (1)--
``(A) will have no ownership interest in the facility for
which such person seeks a license;
``(B) will play no role in the care of dogs at the
facility; and
``(C) will play no role in the management of the facility.
``(c) Prohibition on Issuing Licenses to Certain Legal Entities as
a Result of License Suspension or Revocation.--(1) The Secretary shall
not issue or renew a license for the purpose of being a dealer of dogs
to any person (including a partnership, firm, joint stock company,
corporation, association, trust, estate, or other legal entity) if any
person who holds an ownership interest in the partnership, firm, joint
stock company, corporation, association, trust, estate, or other legal
entity--
``(A) previously held a license for purposes of operating a
facility for dogs at the same address of the facility for which
the license is being sought; and
``(B) within the last 10 years, such license has been
suspended after notice and opportunity for hearing or revoked
pursuant to section 19(a) of this Act.
``(2) Paragraph (1) shall not apply to a person seeking the
issuance or renewal of a license described in such paragraph if such
person shows by clear and convincing evidence that a person who
previously held a license for purposes of operating a facility for dogs
described in subparagraph (A) of such paragraph--
``(A) will play no role in the care of dogs at the
facility; and
``(B) will play no role in the management of the facility.
``(d) Ten-Year Bar for Suspension or Revocation of a License of a
Dealer of Dogs.--The Secretary shall not issue or renew a license for
the purpose of being a dealer of dogs to a person if--
``(1) within the last 10 years, a license for the purpose
of being a dealer of dogs of such person has been suspended
after notice and opportunity for hearing or revoked pursuant to
section 19(a) of this Act; and
``(2) the license is for purposes of operating a facility
for dogs at a location that such person has used as a facility
for dogs.''.
(c) Revocation of Improperly Granted Licenses.--Section 19 of the
Animal Welfare Act (7 U.S.C. 2149) is amended by adding at the end the
following:
``(e) Revocation of Improperly Granted Licenses.--The Secretary
shall revoke a license issued after the date of the enactment of this
subsection if the Secretary subsequently determines that, at the time
of issuance, the issuance of the license violated section 3 of this
Act.''.
SEC. 3. REGULATIONS.
The Secretary of Agriculture may prescribe such regulations as the
Secretary determines to be necessary to implement the amendments made
by this Act. Any such regulations shall be prescribed not later than
one year after the date of the enactment of this Act.
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the House Committee on Agriculture.
Referred to the Subcommittee on Livestock and Foreign Agriculture.
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