I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 208 

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 

JANUARY 9, 2023 

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey (for himself, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr. FITZPATRICK, 

and Mr. GOTTHEIMER) 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 2023’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PROTECTION OF PETS. 

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

8 Welfare Act (7 U.S.C. 2137) is amended to read as fol9 lows: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 7. SOURCES OF DOGS AND CATS FOR RESEARCH FA2 CILITIES. 

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

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

5 joint stock company, corporation, association, trust, es6 tate, pound, shelter, or other legal entity. 

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

8 or Federal research facility may use a dog or cat for re9 search or educational purposes if the dog or cat was ob10 tained from a person other than a person described in sub11 section (d). 

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

13 CATS.—No person, other than a person described in sub14 section (d), may sell, donate, or offer a dog or cat to any 

15 research facility or Federal research facility. 

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

17 a research facility or a Federal research facility may ob18 tain a dog or cat for research or educational purposes 

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

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

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

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

23 bred and raised the dog or cat; 

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

25 shelter that— 

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


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

2 and with the requirements for dealers in sub3 sections (b) and (c) of section 28; and 

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

5 owner, other than a pound or shelter; 

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

7 and that— 

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

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

10 than 1 year immediately preceding the dona11 tion; 

12 ‘‘(4) a research facility licensed by the Sec13 retary; and 

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

15 Secretary. 

16 ‘‘(e) PENALTIES.— 

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

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

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

20 this subsection shall be in addition to any other ap21 plicable penalty. 

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

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

24 or offer a dog or cat to a research facility or Federal re25 search facility.’’. 


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

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

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

4 inserting the following: 

5 ‘‘SEC. 8. FEDERAL RESEARCH FACILITIES. 

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

7 (2) by striking ‘‘research or experimentation 

8 or’’; and 

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

10 ‘‘that purpose’’. 

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

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

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

14 Federal research facility’’. 

15 SEC. 3. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

16 The amendments made by section 2 take effect on 

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

18 this Act. 

Æ 


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