I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 6100 

To amend the Animal Welfare Act to increase enforcement with respect 

to violations of that Act, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 1, 2021 

Mrs. AXNE (for herself, Mr. FITZPATRICK, Mr. QUIGLEY, Ms. MALLIOTAKIS, 

Ms. WILD, and Mr. BUCHANAN) introduced the following bill; which was 

referred to the Committee on Agriculture 

A BILL 

To amend the Animal Welfare Act to increase enforcement 

with respect to violations of that Act, 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. INCREASING USDA ENFORCEMENT OF VIOLA4 TIONS OF ANIMAL WELFARE ACT. 

5 (a) VIOLATION DEFINED.—Section 2 of the Animal 

6 Welfare Act (7 U.S.C. 2132) is amended by adding at the 

7 end the following: 

8 ‘‘(p) The term ‘violation’ means, with respect to a 

9 provision of this Act or any regulation or standard issued 

10 thereunder, any deficiency, deviation, or other failure to 


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1 comply with any such provision or regulation or stand2 ard.’’. 

3 (b) INSPECTIONS AND INVESTIGATIONS.—Section 

4 16(a) of the Animal Welfare Act (7 U.S.C. 2146(a)) is 

5 amended to read as follows: 

6 ‘‘(a)(1) The Secretary shall determine whether any 

7 dealer, exhibitor, intermediate handler, carrier, research 

8 facility, or operator of an auction sale subject to section 

9 12 of this Act, has violated or is violating any provision 

10 of this Act or any regulation or standard issued there11 under. 

12 ‘‘(2) The Secretary shall, at all reasonable times, 

13 have access to the places of business and the facilities, 

14 animals, and those records required to be kept pursuant 

15 to section 10 of any such dealer, exhibitor, intermediate 

16 handler, carrier, research facility, or operator of an auc17 tion sale. 

18 ‘‘(3) The Secretary shall make such inspections and 

19 investigations necessary to make such a determination and 

20 shall document and record a detailed description of any 

21 violation observed during such inspections and investiga22 tions. The Secretary shall inspect each research facility 

23 and the premises of each dealer, and each exhibitor, in24 cluding any properties, animals, facilities, vehicles, equip25 ments or other premises used or intended for use in an 


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1 activity subject to regulation under this Act, at least once 

2 each year and, in the case of any violation of this Act, 

3 shall conduct such follow-up inspections as may be nec4 essary until all such violations are corrected. 

5 ‘‘(4)(A) The Secretary shall promulgate such rules 

6 and regulations necessary to require inspectors to con7 fiscate or destroy in a humane manner any animal de8 scribed in subparagraph (B). Such confiscation shall occur 

9 promptly upon discovery during an inspection or investiga10 tion conducted pursuant to this section of an animal meet11 ing the criteria specified in clause (i) of such subpara12 graph. Any dealer, exhibitor, intermediate handler, or car13 rier that has been notified of the intent of an inspector 

14 to confiscate such an animal shall be prohibited from de15 stroying that animal, in any manner, and until the Sec16 retary has completed that confiscation, shall be prohibited 

17 from destroying any other animal in their ownership or 

18 possession, without prior written consent to do so from 

19 the Secretary. 

20 ‘‘(B) An animal described in this subparagraph is an 

21 animal that is— 

22 ‘‘(i) found during an inspection or investigation 

23 conducted pursuant to this section to be suffering 

24 physical or psychological harm as a result of a failVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:07 Dec 09, 2021 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6100.IH H6100

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1 ure to comply with any provision of this Act or any 

2 regulation or standard issued thereunder; and 

3 ‘‘(ii) held by a dealer, exhibitor, an operator of 

4 an auction sale, an intermediate handler or carrier, 

5 or a research facility, and in the case of an animal 

6 held by a research facility, no longer required by 

7 such research facility to carry out the research, test, 

8 or experiment for which such animal has been uti9 lized.’’. 

10 (c) AGENCY COOPERATION.—Section 15 of the Ani11 mal Welfare Act (7 U.S.C. 2145) is amended by adding 

12 at the end the following: 

13 ‘‘(c) The Secretary shall provide a copy of all records 

14 documenting any violation identified during inspection or 

15 investigation pursuant to section 16 to State, local, and 

16 municipal animal control or law enforcement officials of 

17 appropriate jurisdiction within 24 hours of such inspection 

18 or investigation.’’. 

19 (d) REVOCATION OF LICENSE, CIVIL PENALTIES, AP20 PEAL, FINES, AND IMPRISONMENT.—Section 19(b) of the 

21 Animal Welfare Act (7 U.S.C. 2149(b)) is amended to 

22 read as follows: 

23 ‘‘(b)(1) Any dealer, exhibitor, research facility, inter24 mediate handler, carrier, or operator of an auction sale 

25 subject to section 12 of this Act, that violates any proviVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:07 Dec 09, 2021 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6100.IH H6100

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1 sion of this Act, or any rule, regulation, or standard pro2 mulgated by the Secretary thereunder, shall be subject to 

3 a civil penalty by the Secretary of not more than $10,000 

4 for each such violation, and the Secretary shall also make 

5 an order that such person shall cease and desist from con6 tinuing such violation. Each violation and each day during 

7 which a violation continues shall be a separate offense. 

8 ‘‘(2) Verified delivery of an inspection report pre9 pared pursuant to section 16 shall serve as notice for pur10 poses of this section. No penalty shall be assessed or cease 

11 and desist order issued unless such person is given notice 

12 and opportunity to be heard with respect to the alleged 

13 violation, and the order of the Secretary assessing a pen14 alty and making a cease and desist order shall be final 

15 and conclusive unless the affected person files an appeal 

16 from the Secretary’s order with the appropriate United 

17 States Court of Appeals. 

18 ‘‘(3) A hearing under this section shall be conducted 

19 by, at minimum, one veterinarian, and two additional ani20 mal care specialists or directors. A hearing under this sec21 tion shall take place within 21 days after notice of the 

22 violation has been delivered unless the Secretary identifies 

23 a reasonable basis for continuance. 

24 ‘‘(4) The Secretary shall give due consideration to the 

25 appropriateness of the penalty with respect to the size of 


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1 the business of the person involved, the gravity of the vio2 lation, the person’s good faith, and the history of previous 

3 violations. Any such penalty shall be calculated on a per 

4 animal and per violation basis and may not be reduced 

5 by 10 percent or more. The Secretary shall designate a 

6 responsible party within the Department of Agriculture to 

7 establish penalty guidelines for violations and to verify 

8 that the Department adheres to such guidelines. Such 

9 guidelines shall be established in a manner to reasonably 

10 discourage future violations. 

11 ‘‘(5) Upon any failure to pay the penalty assessed by 

12 a final order under this section, the Secretary shall request 

13 the Attorney General to institute a civil action in a district 

14 court of the United States or other United States court 

15 for any district in which such person is found or resides 

16 or transacts business, to collect the penalty, and such 

17 court shall have jurisdiction to hear and decide any such 

18 action. Any person who knowingly fails to obey a cease 

19 and desist order made by the Secretary under this section 

20 shall be subject to a civil penalty of $1,500.’’. 

Æ 


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