II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2597 

To amend the Animal Health Protection Act with respect to the importation 

of live dogs, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

AUGUST 4, 2021 

Mr. GRASSLEY (for himself and Ms. SMITH) introduced the following bill; 

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

A BILL 

To amend the Animal Health Protection Act with respect 

to the importation of live dogs, and for other purposes. 

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 ‘‘Healthy Dog Importa5 tion Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. IMPORTATION OF LIVE DOGS. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Animal Health Protection 

8 Act (7 U.S.C. 8301 et seq.) is amended by inserting after 

9 section 10404 (7 U.S.C. 8303) the following: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 10404A. IMPORTATION OF LIVE DOGS. 

2 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

3 ‘‘(1) IMPORTER.—The term ‘importer’ means 

4 any person who transports or causes the transpor5 tation of a dog into the United States from a foreign 

6 country. 

7 ‘‘(2) TRANSFER.—The term ‘transfer’ means a 

8 change of ownership or control of an imported dog 

9 to another person, including by sale, adoption, ex10 change, or donation. 

11 ‘‘(b) REQUIREMENTS.— 

12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para13 graph (3), no person shall import a dog into the 

14 United States unless, as determined by the Sec15 retary, the dog— 

16 ‘‘(A) is in good health; 

17 ‘‘(B) has received all necessary vaccina18 tions and demonstrated negative test results, as 

19 required by the Secretary and evidenced by a 

20 certificate that— 

21 ‘‘(i) is issued by a licensed veteri22 narian accredited by a competent veteri23 nary authority recognized by the Secretary; 

24 and 

25 ‘‘(ii) is endorsed by that authority in 

26 a manner representing that the veteriVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:14 Aug 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2597.IS S2597

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1 narian issuing the certificate was author2 ized to do so; and 

3 ‘‘(C) is officially identified by a permanent 

4 method approved by the Secretary. 

5 ‘‘(2) TRANSFER.—Except as provided in para6 graph (3), no person shall import or cause the trans7 portation of a dog into the United States from a for8 eign country for the purpose of transfer unless, as 

9 determined by the Secretary, the dog— 

10 ‘‘(A) meets the criteria described in para11 graph (1); 

12 ‘‘(B) is at least 6 months old; and 

13 ‘‘(C) is accompanied by an import permit 

14 issued by the Secretary under this Act. 

15 ‘‘(3) EXCEPTIONS.—The Secretary, by regula16 tion, shall provide an exception to any requirement 

17 under this Act in any case in which a dog is im18 ported for purposes of transfer for— 

19 ‘‘(A) research purposes; 

20 ‘‘(B) veterinary treatment, paid for by the 

21 importer, subject to the condition that the 

22 dog— 

23 ‘‘(i) is taken directly to a veterinary 

24 facility for treatment with appropriate 


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1 quarantine until the dog meets the criteria 

2 described in paragraph (1); and 

3 ‘‘(ii) is then exported to its country of 

4 origin; or 

5 ‘‘(C) in the case of a dog that is less than 

6 6 months old, lawful importation into the State 

7 of Hawaii in compliance with the regulations of 

8 the State of Hawaii and the other requirements 

9 of this section, if the dog is not transported out 

10 of the State of Hawaii for transfer at less than 

11 6 months of age. 

12 ‘‘(c) IMPLEMENTATION AND REGULATIONS.—The 

13 Secretary, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, 

14 the Secretary of Commerce, and the Secretary of Home15 land Security, shall— 

16 ‘‘(1) promulgate such regulations as the Secre17 taries determine to be necessary to implement and 

18 enforce this section; 

19 ‘‘(2)(A) facilitate electronic submission of all re20 quired documentation; and 

21 ‘‘(B) make the information in the documenta22 tion submitted under subparagraph (A) available to 

23 the Secretary, the Secretary of Health and Human 

24 Services, the Secretary of Commerce, and the Sec25 retary of Homeland Security, as applicable, for 


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1 verification on arrival of the dog in the United 

2 States; and 

3 ‘‘(3) determine and establish such fees for the 

4 issuance of permits and the carrying out of inspec5 tions with respect to dog importation as are nec6 essary to fund the implementation and enforcement 

7 of this section. 

8 ‘‘(d) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in sub9 section (c)(3) limits the availability of funding made avail10 able under section 10417 to carry out this section. 

11 ‘‘(e) ENFORCEMENT.— 

12 ‘‘(1) AUTHORITY.—The Secretary shall have 

13 the authority granted under section 10414 to en14 force this section. 

15 ‘‘(2) PENALTIES.—An importer that fails to 

16 comply with this section shall— 

17 ‘‘(A) be subject to penalties under section 

18 10414; and 

19 ‘‘(B) if the importer is a dealer, provide, as 

20 the Secretary may determine, at the expense of 

21 the importer, for— 

22 ‘‘(i) the care (including appropriate 

23 veterinary care), forfeiture, quarantine, 

24 and removal from the United States of 

25 each applicable dog; and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) the return of each applicable dog 

2 to its place of export, with due care for the 

3 welfare of each applicable dog.’’. 

4 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 18 of the 

5 Animal Welfare Act (7 U.S.C. 2148) is repealed. 

6 SEC. 3. TRANSPORTATION. 

7 (a) DEFINITION OF TRANSPORTER.—Section 2 of the 

8 Animal Welfare Act (7 U.S.C. 2132) is amended— 

9 (1) in subsection (c)— 

10 (A) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘para11 graph (1)’’ and inserting ‘‘subparagraph (A)’’; 

12 and 

13 (B) by redesignating paragraphs (1) and 

14 (2) as subparagraphs (A) and (B), respectively, 

15 and indenting appropriately; 

16 (2) in each of subsections (a) through (o), by 

17 inserting a subsection heading, the text of which is 

18 comprised of the term defined in the subsection; 

19 (3) by redesignating subsections (a) through (o) 

20 as paragraphs (12), (15), (3), (17), (14), (6), (1), 

21 (7), (11), (2), (8), (9), (13), (4), (10), respectively, 

22 and indenting appropriately; 

23 (4) by inserting after paragraph (4) (as so des24 ignated) the following: 


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1 ‘‘(5) COMPENSATION.—The term ‘compensa2 tion’ means any act, consideration, or thing of value 

3 received by a person directly, including cash or 

4 noncash benefits, cost-avoidance, obtaining positive 

5 or avoiding negative publicity, an exchange of serv6 ices, or maintaining a license issued under any local, 

7 State, or Federal government authority.’’; 

8 (5) by inserting after paragraph (15) (as so 

9 designated) the following: 

10 ‘‘(16) SELL; RESELL.—The term ‘sell’ or ‘re11 sell’ means to transfer ownership or control of an 

12 animal, including by sale, adoption, exchange, or do13 nation.’’; and 

14 (6) by adding at the end the following: 

15 ‘‘(18) TRANSPORTER.—The term ‘transporter’ 

16 means any person, department, agency, or instru17 mentality of the United States or of any State or 

18 local government, other than a carrier or inter19 mediate handler, who— 

20 ‘‘(A) receives an animal from any im21 porter, dealer, research facility, exhibitor, oper22 ator of an auction sale, or department, agency, 

23 or instrumentality of the United States or of 

24 any State or local government; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) receives compensation for moving 

2 that animal in commerce.’’. 

3 (b) HUMANE STANDARDS.—Section 13 of the Animal 

4 Welfare Act (7 U.S.C. 2143) is amended— 

5 (1) in subsection (a)(4)— 

6 (A) in the first sentence, by striking ‘‘air 

7 carriers,’’ and inserting ‘‘transporters, air car8 riers,’’; and 

9 (B) by adding at the end the following: 

10 ‘‘The Secretary shall provide, by regulation, 

11 that each transporter, intermediate handler, or 

12 carrier receiving a certificate of veterinary in13 spection required under this section shall sub14 mit a copy of the certificate to the Secretary, 

15 who shall record the information in a central16 ized, publicly available database.’’; 

17 (2) by redesignating subsections (g) and (h) as 

18 subsections (h) and (i), respectively; 

19 (3) in the second subsection (f) (relating to cer20 tificates of inspection required for delivery of an ani21 mal), by striking ‘‘(f) No dogs or cats’’ and inserting 

22 the following: 

23 ‘‘(g) No dogs or cats’’; and 

24 (4) in subsection (g) (as so redesignated)— 

25 (A) in the first sentence— 


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1 (i) by inserting ‘‘importer,’’ before 

2 ‘‘dealer,’’; and 

3 (ii) by inserting ‘‘, transporter,’’ after 

4 ‘‘intermediate handler’’; and 

5 (B) in the second sentence— 

6 (i) by inserting ‘‘, the transporters,’’ 

7 after ‘‘the intermediate handlers’’; and 

8 (ii) by striking ‘‘section 10 of this 

9 Act’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection (a)(4)’’. 

10 SEC. 4. REGULATIONS. 

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 18 months after 

12 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Agri13 culture shall promulgate final regulations to implement 

14 the amendments made by this Act, including with respect 

15 to— 

16 (1) the verification on arrival in the United 

17 States of each dog being imported into the United 

18 States from a foreign country that the dog meets all 

19 applicable importation requirements; and 

20 (2) the denial of entry into the United States 

21 of any dog that fails to meet those requirements. 

22 (b) TRANSITION PERIOD.—Until the date on which 

23 final regulations are issued under subsection (a), the im24 portation of live dogs shall be regulated in accordance with 

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1 mal Welfare Act (7 U.S.C. 2148) (as in effect on the day 

2 before the date of enactment of this Act), but only to the 

3 extent that those regulations are not in conflict with sec4 tion 10404A of the Animal Health Protection Act. 

Æ 


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