WOOF! Act

To amend the Animal Welfare Act to prohibit the issuance of licenses to certain individuals connected to dealers of dogs who have had licenses revoked, and for other purposes. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Welfare of Our Friends Act of 2019 WOOF! Act 2. Prohibition on issuing licenses to certain persons as a result of license revocation (a) Definition Section 2 of the Animal Welfare Act ( 7 U.S.C. 2132 (p) The term immediate family member (1) a spouse, domestic partner, child, parent, brother, sister, grandparent, or grandchild; and (2) a spouse of a child, parent, brother, sister, grandparent, or grandchild. . (b) Prohibition on issuing licenses to certain persons as a result of license revocation Section 3 of the Animal Welfare Act ( 7 U.S.C. 2133 (1) by striking “The Secretary shall” and inserting “(a) In general (2) by striking issued issued or renewed (3) by striking demonstrated demonstrated through facility inspection (4) by adding at the end the following: (b) Prohibition on issuing licenses to certain persons as a result of license suspension or revocation (1) The Secretary shall not issue or renew a license for the purpose of being a dealer of dogs to a person who is an immediate family member of, or who resides at the same address of, a dealer of dogs if— (A) the license is for purposes of operating a facility for dogs at a location that such dealer has used as a facility for dogs; and (B) within the last 10 years, a license of such dealer has been suspended after notice and opportunity for hearing or revoked pursuant to section 19(a) of this Act. (2) Paragraph (1) shall not apply to a person described in such paragraph if such person shows by clear and convincing evidence that a dealer described in paragraph (1)— (A) will have no ownership interest in the facility for which such person seeks a license; (B) will play no role in the care of dogs at the facility; and (C) will play no role in the management of the facility. (c) Prohibition on issuing licenses to certain legal entities as a result of license suspension or revocation (1) The Secretary shall not issue or renew a license for the purpose of being a dealer of dogs to any person (including a partnership, firm, joint stock company, corporation, association, trust, estate, or other legal entity) if any person who holds an ownership interest in the partnership, firm, joint stock company, corporation, association, trust, estate, or other legal entity— (A) previously held a license for purposes of operating a facility for dogs at the same address of the facility for which the license is being sought; and (B) within the last 10 years, such license has been suspended after notice and opportunity for hearing or revoked pursuant to section 19(a) of this Act. (2) Paragraph (1) shall not apply to a person seeking the issuance or renewal of a license described in such paragraph if such person shows by clear and convincing evidence that a person who previously held a license for purposes of operating a facility for dogs described in subparagraph (A) of such paragraph— (A) will play no role in the care of dogs at the facility; and (B) will play no role in the management of the facility. (d) Ten-Year bar for suspension or revocation of a license of a dealer of dogs The Secretary shall not issue or renew a license for the purpose of being a dealer of dogs to a person if— (1) within the last 10 years, a license for the purpose of being a dealer of dogs of such person has been suspended after notice and opportunity for hearing or revoked pursuant to section 19(a) of this Act; and (2) the license is for purposes of operating a facility for dogs at a location that such person has used as a facility for dogs. . (c) Revocation of improperly granted licenses Section 19 of the Animal Welfare Act ( 7 U.S.C. 2149 (e) Revocation of improperly granted licenses The Secretary shall revoke a license issued after the date of the enactment of this subsection if the Secretary subsequently determines that, at the time of issuance, the issuance of the license violated section 3 of this Act. . 3. Regulations The Secretary of Agriculture may prescribe such regulations as the Secretary determines to be necessary to implement the amendments made by this Act. Any such regulations shall be prescribed not later than one year after the date of the enactment of this Act.

Summary: Welfare of Our Friends Act of 2019 or the WOOF! Act This bill establishes requirements to protect dogs from dog dealers who have had their licenses suspended or revoked in the last 10 years and certain individuals connected to such dog dealers. Specifically, the bill prohibits the Department of Agriculture (USDA) from licensing such a dealer if the license is for operating a facility that the dealer previously used for dogs. Further, for such a facility, USDA may not license (1) the dealer's immediate family members, (2) persons who reside at the same address as the dealer, or (3) certain legal entities where the dealer holds an ownership interest.