I 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2256 

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 

JUNE 21, 2011 

Mr. DOYLE (for himself, Mr. SMITH of New Jersey, Mr. DEUTCH, Mr. YOUNG

of Florida, Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts, Mr. ACKERMAN, Mr. KISSELL, 

Mr. FARR, Mr. FILNER, Mr. NADLER, Mr. MORAN, Ms. HIRONO, Mr. 

PASCRELL, Mr. ROTHMAN of New Jersey, Mr. LEWIS of Georgia, Ms. 

BERKLEY, Mrs. MALONEY, Mr. OLVER, Mr. GALLEGLY, Mr. LATOURETTE, Ms. TSONGAS, Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, Mr. KUCINICH, and Ms. 

MCCOLLUM) 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. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Pet Safety and Protec5 tion Act of 2011’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. PROTECTION OF PETS. 

2 (a) RESEARCH FACILITIES.—Section 7 of the Animal 

3 Welfare Act (7 U.S.C. 2137) is amended to read as fol4 lows: 

5 ‘‘SEC. 7. SOURCES OF DOGS AND CATS FOR RESEARCH FA6 CILITIES. 

7 ‘‘(a) DEFINITION OF PERSON.—In this section, the 

8 term ‘person’ means any individual, partnership, firm, 

9 joint stock company, corporation, association, trust, es10 tate, pound, shelter, or other legal entity. 

11 ‘‘(b) USE OF DOGS AND CATS.—No research facility 

12 or Federal research facility may use a dog or cat for re13 search or educational purposes if the dog or cat was ob14 tained from a person other than a person described in sub15 section (d). 

16 ‘‘(c) SELLING, DONATING, OR OFFERING DOGS AND

17 CATS.—No person, other than a person described in sub18 section (d), may sell, donate, or offer a dog or cat to any 

19 research facility or Federal research facility. 

20 ‘‘(d) PERMISSIBLE SOURCES.—A person from whom 

21 a research facility or a Federal research facility may ob22 tain a dog or cat for research or educational purposes 

23 under subsection (b), and a person who may sell, donate, 

24 or offer a dog or cat to a research facility or a Federal 

25 research facility under subsection (c), shall be— 


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1 ‘‘(1) a dealer licensed under section 3 that has 

2 bred and raised the dog or cat; 

3 ‘‘(2) a publicly owned and operated pound or 

4 shelter that— 

5 ‘‘(A) is registered with the Secretary; 

6 ‘‘(B) is in compliance with section 28(a)(1) 

7 and with the requirements for dealers in sub8 sections (b) and (c) of section 28; and 

9 ‘‘(C) obtained the dog or cat from its legal 

10 owner, other than a pound or shelter; 

11 ‘‘(3) a person that is donating the dog or cat 

12 and that— 

13 ‘‘(A) bred and raised the dog or cat; or 

14 ‘‘(B) owned the dog or cat for not less 

15 than 1 year immediately preceding the dona16 tion; 

17 ‘‘(4) a research facility licensed by the Sec18 retary; and 

19 ‘‘(5) a Federal research facility licensed by the 

20 Secretary. 

21 ‘‘(e) PENALTIES.— 

22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A person that violates this 

23 section shall be fined $1,000 for each violation. 


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1 ‘‘(2) ADDITIONAL PENALTY.—A penalty under 

2 this subsection shall be in addition to any other ap3 plicable penalty. 

4 ‘‘(f) NO REQUIRED SALE OR DONATION.—Nothing 

5 in this section requires a pound or shelter to sell, donate, 

6 or offer a dog or cat to a research facility or Federal re7 search facility.’’. 

8 (b) FEDERAL RESEARCH FACILITIES.—Section 8 of 

9 the Animal Welfare Act (7 U.S.C. 2138) is amended— 

10 (1) by striking ‘‘Sec. 8. No department’’ and 

11 inserting the following: 

12 ‘‘SEC. 8. FEDERAL RESEARCH FACILITIES. 

13 ‘‘Except as provided in section 7, no department’’; 

14 (2) by striking ‘‘research or experimentation 

15 or’’; and 

16 (3) by striking ‘‘such purposes’’ and inserting 

17 ‘‘that purpose’’. 

18 (c) CERTIFICATION.—Section 28(b)(1) of the Animal 

19 Welfare Act (7 U.S.C. 2158(b)(1)) is amended by striking 

20 ‘‘individual or entity’’ and inserting ‘‘research facility or 

21 Federal research facility’’. 


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1 SEC. 3. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

2 The amendments made by section 2 take effect on 

3 the date that is 90 days after the date of enactment of 

4 this Act. 

Æ 


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