I 
108TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1532
To amend the Animal Welfare Act to strengthen enforcement of provisions 
relating to animal fighting, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
APRIL 1, 2003
Mr. BARTLETT of Maryland (for himself, Mr. ANDREWS, Mrs. MCCARTHY of 
New York, Mr. ACKERMAN, Mr. TANCREDO, and Mr. BLUMENAUER) in-
troduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agri-
culture 
A BILL 
To amend the Animal Welfare Act to strengthen enforcement 
of provisions relating to animal fighting, and for other 
purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Animal Fighting Pro-
hibition Enforcement Act’’. 
SEC. 2. ENFORCEMENT OF ANIMAL FIGHTING PROHIBI-
TIONS UNDER THE ANIMAL WELFARE ACT. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 26 of the Animal Welfare 
Act (7 U.S.C. 2156) is amended—
(1) by redesignating subsections (c) through (h) 
as subsections (d) through (i), respectively; 
(2) by inserting after subsection (b) the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(c) SHARP INSTRUMENTS.—It shall be unlawful for 
any person to knowingly sell, buy, transport, or deliver in 
interstate or foreign commerce a knife, a gaff, or any 
other sharp instrument attached, or designed or intended 
to be attached, to the leg of a bird for use in an animal 
fighting venture.’’; 
(3) in subsection (e) (as redesignated by para-
graph (1)), by striking ‘‘(c)’’ and inserting ‘‘(d)’’; 
(4) in subsection (f) (as redesignated by para-
graph (1))—
(A) by striking ‘‘(a), (b), or (c)’’ and in-
serting ‘‘(a), (b), (c), or (d)’’; and 
(B) by striking ‘‘1 year’’ and inserting ‘‘2 
years’’; 
(5) by striking subsection (g) (as redesignated 
by paragraph (1)) and inserting the following: 
‘‘(g) INVESTIGATIONS.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary or any per-
son authorized by the Secretary shall make such in-
vestigations as the Secretary considers necessary to
determine whether any person has violated or is vio-
lating any provision of this section. 
‘‘(2) ASSISTANCE.—Through cooperative agree-
ments, the Secretary may obtain the assistance of 
the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Depart-
ment of the Treasury, and other law enforcement 
agencies of the United States and of State, tribal, 
and local governmental agencies in the conduct of an 
investigation under paragraph (1). 
‘‘(3) WARRANTS.—
‘‘(A) ISSUANCE.—A judge of the United 
States, United States magistrate judge, or 
judge of a State or tribal court of competent ju-
risdiction in the district in which is located an 
animal, paraphernalia, instrument, or other 
property or thing that there is probable cause 
to believe was involved, is about to be involved, 
or is intended to be involved in a violation of 
this section shall issue a warrant to search for 
and seize the animal or other property or thing. 
‘‘(B) 
APPLICATION; 
EXECUTION.—A 
United States marshal or any person authorized 
under this section to conduct an investigation 
may apply for and execute a warrant issued 
under subparagraph (A), and any animal, para-
phernalia, instrument, or other property or 
thing seized under such a warrant shall be held 
by the authorized person pending disposition of 
the animal, paraphernalia, instrument, or other 
property or thing by a court in accordance with 
this subsection. 
‘‘(4) STORAGE OF ANIMALS.—
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—An animal seized by a 
United States marshal or other authorized per-
son under paragraph (3) shall be taken prompt-
ly to an animal housing facility in which the 
animal shall be stored humanely. 
‘‘(B) NO FACILITY AVAILABLE.—If there is 
not available a suitable animal storage facility 
sufficient in size to hold all of the animals in-
volved in a violation, a United States marshal 
or other authorized person shall—
‘‘(i) seize a representative sample of 
the animals for evidentiary purposes to be 
transported to an animal storage facility in 
which the animals shall be stored hu-
manely; and
‘‘(ii)(I) keep the remaining animals at 
the location where the animals were seized;