II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1559 

To protect victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking, and dating 

violence from emotional and psychological trauma caused by acts of 

violence or threats of violence against their pets. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 11, 2015 

Ms. AYOTTE (for herself and Mr. PETERS) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, 

and Forestry 

A BILL 

To protect victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking, and dating violence from emotional and psychological 

trauma caused by acts of violence or threats of violence 

against their pets. 

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 and Women Safety 

5 Act of 2015’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. PET INVOLVEMENT IN CRIMES RELATED TO DO2 MESTIC VIOLENCE AND STALKING. 

3 (a) INTERSTATE STALKING.—Section 2261A of title 

4 18, United States Code, is amended— 

5 (1) in paragraph (1)(A)— 

6 (A) in clause (ii), by striking ‘‘or’’ at the 

7 end; and 

8 (B) by inserting after clause (iii) the fol9 lowing: 

10 ‘‘(iv) the pet of that person; or’’; and 

11 (2) in paragraph (2)(A)— 

12 (A) by inserting after ‘‘to a person’’ the 

13 following: ‘‘or a pet’’; and 

14 (B) by striking ‘‘or (iii)’’ and inserting 

15 ‘‘(iii), or (iv)’’. 

16 (b) INTERSTATE VIOLATION OF PROTECTION

17 ORDER.—Section 2262 of title 18, United States Code, 

18 is amended— 

19 (1) in subsection (a)— 

20 (A) in paragraph (1), by inserting after 

21 ‘‘another person’’ the following: ‘‘or the pet of 

22 that person’’; and 

23 (B) in paragraph (2), by inserting after 

24 ‘‘proximity to, another person’’ the following 

25 ‘‘or the pet of that person’’; and 


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1 (2) in subsection (b)(5), by inserting after ‘‘in 

2 any other case,’’ the following: ‘‘including any case 

3 where the offense is committed against a pet,’’. 

4 (c) RESTITUTION TO INCLUDE VETERINARY SERV5 ICES.—Section 226(b)(3) of title 18, United States Code, 

6 is amended— 

7 (1) by redesignating subparagraph (F) as sub8 paragraph (G); 

9 (2) in subparagraph (E), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 

10 the end; and 

11 (3) by inserting after subparagraph (E) the fol12 lowing: 

13 ‘‘(F) veterinary services relating to phys14 ical care for the victim’s pet; and’’. 

15 (d) PET DEFINED.—Section 2266 of title 18, United 

16 States Code, is amended by inserting after paragraph (10) 

17 the following: 

18 ‘‘(11) PET.—The term ‘pet’ means a domes19 ticated animal, such as a dog, cat, bird, rodent, fish, 

20 turtle, horse, or other animal that is kept for pleas21 ure rather than for commercial purposes.’’. 


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1 SEC. 3. EMERGENCY AND TRANSITIONAL PET SHELTER 

2 AND HOUSING ASSISTANCE GRANT PRO3 GRAM. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Agriculture, act5 ing in consultation with the Director of the Violence 

6 Against Women Office of the Department of Justice, the 

7 Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, and the 

8 Secretary of Health and Human Services, shall award 

9 grants under this section to eligible entities to carry out 

10 programs to provide the assistance described in subsection 

11 (c) with respect to victims of domestic violence, dating vio12 lence, sexual assault, or stalking and the pets of such vic13 tims. 

14 (b) APPLICATION.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—An eligible entity seeking a 

16 grant under this section shall submit an application 

17 to the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and 

18 containing such information as the Secretary may 

19 reasonably require, including— 

20 (A) a description of the activities for which 

21 a grant under this section is sought; 

22 (B) such assurances as the Secretary de23 termines to be necessary to ensure compliance 

24 by the entity with the requirements of this sec25 tion; and 


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1 (C) a certification that the entity, before 

2 engaging with any individual domestic violence 

3 victim, will disclose to such victim any manda4 tory duty of the entity to report instances of 

5 abuse and neglect (including instances of abuse 

6 and neglect of pets). 

7 (2) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS.—In addition 

8 to the requirements of paragraph (1), each applica9 tion submitted by an eligible entity under such para10 graph shall— 

11 (A) not include proposals for any activities 

12 that may compromise the safety of a domestic 

13 violence victim, including— 

14 (i) background checks of domestic vio15 lence victims; or 

16 (ii) clinical evaluations to determine 

17 the eligibility of such a victim for support 

18 services; 

19 (B) not include proposals that would re20 quire mandatory services for victims or that a 

21 victim obtain a protective order in order to re22 ceive proposed services; and 

23 (C) reflect the eligible entity’s under24 standing of the dynamics of domestic violence, 

25 dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking. 


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1 (3) RULES OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in 

2 this subsection shall be construed to require— 

3 (A) domestic violence victims to participate 

4 in the criminal justice system in order to re5 ceive services; or 

6 (B) eligible entities receiving a grant under 

7 this section to breach client confidentiality. 

8 (c) USE OF FUNDS.—Grants awarded under this sec9 tion may only be used for programs that provide— 

10 (1) emergency and transitional pet shelter and 

11 housing assistance, including assistance with respect 

12 to any construction or operating expenses of newly 

13 developed or existing emergency and transitional pet 

14 shelter and housing (regardless of whether such 

15 shelter and housing is co-located at a victim service 

16 provider or within the community); 

17 (2) short-term pet shelter and housing assist18 ance, including assistance with respect to expenses 

19 incurred for the temporary shelter, housing, board20 ing, or fostering of the pets of domestic violence vic21 tims and other expenses that are incidental to secur22 ing the safety of such a pet during the sheltering, 

23 housing, or relocation of such victims; 

24 (3) support services designed to enable a do25 mestic violence victim who is fleeing a situation of 


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1 domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or 

2 stalking to— 

3 (A) locate and secure safe housing with 

4 their pet or safe accommodations for their pet; 

5 or 

6 (B) provide the victim with pet-related 

7 services, such as pet transportation, pet care 

8 services, and other assistance; or 

9 (4) for the training of relevant stakeholders 

10 on— 

11 (A) the link between domestic violence, 

12 dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking and 

13 the abuse and neglect of pets; 

14 (B) the needs of domestic violence victims; 

15 (C) best practices for providing support 

16 services to such victims; 

17 (D) best practices for providing such vic18 tims with referrals to victims’ services; and 

19 (E) the importance of confidentiality. 

20 (d) GRANT CONDITIONS.—An eligible entity that re21 ceives a grant under this section shall, as a condition on 

22 such receipt, agree— 

23 (1) to be bound by the nondisclosure of con24 fidential information requirements of section 


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1 40002(b)(2) of the Violence Against Women Act of 

2 1994 (42 U.S.C. 13925(b)(2)); and 

3 (2) that the entity shall not condition the re4 ceipt of support, housing, or other benefits provided 

5 pursuant to this section on the participation of do6 mestic violence victims in any or all of the support 

7 services offered to such victims through a program 

8 carried out by the entity using grant funds. 

9 (e) DURATION OF ASSISTANCE PROVIDED TO VIC10 TIMS.— 

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), 

12 assistance provided with respect to a pet of a domes13 tic violence victim using grant funds awarded under 

14 this section shall be provided for a period of not 

15 more than 24 months. 

16 (2) EXTENSION.—An eligible entity that re17 ceives a grant under this section may extend the 24- 

18 month period referred to in paragraph (1) for a pe19 riod of not more than 6 months in the case of a do20 mestic violence victim who— 

21 (A) has made a good faith effort to acquire 

22 permanent housing for their pet during such 

23 24-month period; and 

24 (B) has been unable to acquire such per25 manent housing within such period. 


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1 (f) REPORT TO THE SECRETARY.—Not later than 1 

2 year after the date on which an eligible entity receives a 

3 grant under this section and each year thereafter, such 

4 entity shall submit to the Secretary of Agriculture a re5 port. Such report shall contain, with respect to assistance 

6 provided by such entity with respect to pets of domestic 

7 violence victims using grant funds received under this sec8 tion, information on— 

9 (1) the number of pets provided such assist10 ance; and 

11 (2) the purpose, amount, type of, and duration 

12 of such assistance. 

13 (g) REPORT TO CONGRESS.— 

14 (1) REPORTING REQUIREMENT.—Not later than 

15 November 1 of each even-numbered fiscal year, the 

16 Secretary of Agriculture shall submit to the Com17 mittee on Agriculture of the House of Representa18 tives and the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, 

19 and Forestry of the Senate a report that contains a 

20 compilation of the information contained in the re21 port submitted under subsection (f). 

22 (2) AVAILABILITY OF REPORT.—The Secretary 

23 of Agriculture shall transmit a copy of the report 

24 submitted under paragraph (1) to— 


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1 (A) the Office on Violence Against Women 

2 of the Department of Justice; 

3 (B) the Office of Community Planning and 

4 Development at the Department of Housing 

5 and Urban Development; and 

6 (C) the Administration for Children and 

7 Families at the Department of Health and 

8 Human Services. 

9 (h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be 

11 appropriated to carry out this section $3,000,000 for 

12 each of fiscal years 2016 through 2020. 

13 (2) LIMITATION.—Of the amount made avail14 able under paragraph (1) in any fiscal year, not 

15 more than 5 percent may be used for evaluation, 

16 monitoring, technical assistance, salaries, and ad17 ministrative expenses. 

18 (i) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

19 (1) DOMESTIC VIOLENCE VICTIM DEFINED.— 

20 The term ‘‘domestic violence victim’’ means a victim 

21 of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, 

22 or stalking. 

23 (2) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti24 ty’’ means— 

25 (A) a State; 


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1 (B) a general unit of local government; 

2 (C) an Indian tribe; or 

3 (D) any other organization that has a doc4 umented history of effective work concerning 

5 domestic violence, dating violence, sexual as6 sault, or stalking (as determined by the Sec7 retary), including— 

8 (i) a domestic violence and sexual as9 sault victim service provider; 

10 (ii) a domestic violence and sexual as11 sault coalition; 

12 (iii) a community-based and culturally 

13 specific organization; 

14 (iv) any other nonprofit, nongovern15 mental organization; and 

16 (v) any organization that works di17 rectly with pets and collaborates with any 

18 organization referred to in clauses (i) 

19 through (iv), including— 

20 (I) an animal shelter; and 

21 (II) an animal welfare organiza22 tion. 

23 SEC. 4. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

24 It is the sense of Congress that States should encour25 age the inclusion of protections against violent or threatVerDate Sep 11 2014 07:14 Jun 12, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1559.IS S1559

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1 ening acts against the pet of the person in domestic vio2 lence protection orders. 

Æ 


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