Pet Safety and Protection Act of 2023

[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 208 Introduced in House (IH)]

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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 Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Pet Safety and Protection Act of 
2023''.

SEC. 2. PROTECTION OF PETS.

    (a) Research Facilities.--Section 7 of the Animal Welfare Act (7 
U.S.C. 2137) is amended to read as follows:

``SEC. 7. SOURCES OF DOGS AND CATS FOR RESEARCH FACILITIES.

    ``(a) Definition of Person.--In this section, the term `person' 
means any individual, partnership, firm, joint stock company, 
corporation, association, trust, estate, pound, shelter, or other legal 
entity.
    ``(b) Use of Dogs and Cats.--No research facility or Federal 
research facility may use a dog or cat for research or educational 
purposes if the dog or cat was obtained from a person other than a 
person described in subsection (d).
    ``(c) Selling, Donating, or Offering Dogs and Cats.--No person, 
other than a person described in subsection (d), may sell, donate, or 
offer a dog or cat to any research facility or Federal research 
facility.
    ``(d) Permissible Sources.--A person from whom a research facility 
or a Federal research facility may obtain a dog or cat for research or 
educational purposes under subsection (b), and a person who may sell, 
donate, or offer a dog or cat to a research facility or a Federal 
research facility under subsection (c), shall be--
            ``(1) a dealer licensed under section 3 that has bred and 
        raised the dog or cat;
            ``(2) a publicly owned and operated pound or shelter that--
                    ``(A) is registered with the Secretary;
                    ``(B) is in compliance with section 28(a)(1) and 
                with the requirements for dealers in subsections (b) 
                and (c) of section 28; and
                    ``(C) obtained the dog or cat from its legal owner, 
                other than a pound or shelter;
            ``(3) a person that is donating the dog or cat and that--
                    ``(A) bred and raised the dog or cat; or
                    ``(B) owned the dog or cat for not less than 1 year 
                immediately preceding the donation;
            ``(4) a research facility licensed by the Secretary; and
            ``(5) a Federal research facility licensed by the 
        Secretary.
    ``(e) Penalties.--
            ``(1) In general.--A person that violates this section 
        shall be fined $1,000 for each violation.
            ``(2) Additional penalty.--A penalty under this subsection 
        shall be in addition to any other applicable penalty.
    ``(f) No Required Sale or Donation.--Nothing in this section 
requires a pound or shelter to sell, donate, or offer a dog or cat to a 
research facility or Federal research facility.''.
    (b) Federal Research Facilities.--Section 8 of the Animal Welfare 
Act (7 U.S.C. 2138) is amended--
            (1) by striking ``Sec. 8. No department'' and inserting the 
        following:

``SEC. 8. FEDERAL RESEARCH FACILITIES.

    ``Except as provided in section 7, no department'';
            (2) by striking ``research or experimentation or''; and
            (3) by striking ``such purposes'' and inserting ``that 
        purpose''.
    (c) Certification.--Section 28(b)(1) of the Animal Welfare Act (7 
U.S.C. 2158(b)(1)) is amended by striking ``individual or entity'' and 
inserting ``research facility or Federal research facility''.

SEC. 3. EFFECTIVE DATE.

    The amendments made by section 2 take effect on the date that is 90 
days after the date of enactment of this Act.
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