I 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5422 

To authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to make grants for the prevention 

of cruelty to animals to States that have enacted laws prohibiting the 

devocalization of dogs and cats for purposes of convenience. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 27, 2010 

Mr. RUPPERSBERGER introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Agriculture 

A BILL 

To authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to make grants 

for the prevention of cruelty to animals to States that 

have enacted laws prohibiting the devocalization of dogs 

and cats for purposes of convenience. 

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

3 SECTION 1. ANIMAL CRUELTY PREVENTION GRANTS TO 

4 STATES WITH LAWS PROHIBITING DEVO5 CALIZATION OF DOGS AND CATS. 

6 (a) AUTHORIZATION.—The Secretary of Agriculture 

7 may make grants on a competitive basis for the prevention 

8 of cruelty to animals to States that have enacted laws proVerDate Mar 15 2010 06:07 May 29, 2010 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5422.IH H5422

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1 hibiting the performance of devocalization procedures on 

2 dogs and cats for purposes of convenience. 

3 (b) ELIGIBILITY.—The Secretary may only award a 

4 grant under this section to a State that— 

5 (1) has enacted a law imposing criminal pen6 alties on any individual who performs a devocaliza7 tion procedure on a dog or cat for purposes of con8 venience; and 

9 (2) submits an application at such time, in such 

10 form, and accompanied by such information and as11 surances as the Secretary may require, including a 

12 copy of the law described in paragraph (1). 

13 (c) USE OF FUNDS.— 

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—A State that receives a 

15 grant under this section shall use the grant funds 

16 for activities that prevent or promote the prevention 

17 of cruelty to animals. Such activities may include— 

18 (A) care for animals that are unwanted or 

19 have been abused; and 

20 (B) public education about— 

21 (i) animal abuse and how individuals 

22 may prevent such abuse or care for ani23 mals that are unwanted or have been 

24 abused; and 


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1 (ii) the effects of performing a devo2 calization procedure on a dog or cat for 

3 purposes of convenience. 

4 (2) SUBGRANTS.—A State that receives a grant 

5 under this section may use grant funds to make 

6 grants to entities that agree to use such funds to 

7 carry out the activities described in paragraph (1). 

8 (d) GRANT AMOUNT.—The Secretary may not award 

9 more than $1,000,000 under this section to a single State. 

10 (e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

11 (1) DEVOCALIZATION PROCEDURE.—The term 

12 ‘‘devocalization procedure’’ means a surgical proce13 dure that prevents an animal’s larynx from pro14 ducing sound or reduces the ability of the larynx to 

15 produce sound. 

16 (2) FOR PURPOSES OF CONVENIENCE.—The 

17 term ‘‘for purposes of convenience’’ means, with re18 spect to the performance of a devocalization proce19 dure on an animal, that the procedure is not per20 formed primarily for the therapeutic benefit of the 

21 animal. 

22 (f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

23 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

24 $12,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2011 and 2012. 

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