I
104TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 3393
To amend the Animal Welfare Act to prevent the crime of pet theft.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MAY 7, 1996
Mr. FOX of Pennsylvania (for himself and Mr. LANTOS, Mr. ABERCROMBIE,
Mr. ANDREWS, Mr. BALLENGER, Mr. BRYANT of Tennessee, Mr. CAL-
VERT, Mr. CAMPBELL, Mr. CHABOT, Mr. DELLUMS, Mr. DOYLE, Mr.
ENGEL, Mr. FARR of California, Mr. FOLEY, Mr. HEINEMAN, Mr. HOLD-
EN, Mr. HORN, Mr. JACOBS, Mrs. KELLY, Mr. KLECZKA, Mr.
LATOURETTE, Mr. LEACH, Mr. LEWIS of Georgia, Mr. LIPINSKI, Ms.
LOFGREN, Mr. MANTON, Mr. MILLER of California, Mrs. MINK of Ha-
waii, Mr. PALLONE, Mr. SMITH of New Jersey, Mr. TORRES, Mr.
POSHARD, and Mr. BARCIA) introduced the following bill; which was re-
ferred to the Committee on Agriculture
A BILL
To amend the Animal Welfare Act to prevent the crime
of pet theft.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS.
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the
‘‘Family Pet Protection Act of 1996’’.
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of
this Act is as follows:
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
Sec. 2. Restriction on sources of dogs and cats for research or educational pur-
poses.
Sec. 3. Restriction on sale, donation, offer, or lease of dogs and cats.
Sec. 4. Definition of pound.
Sec. 5. Additional requirements for pounds.
Sec. 6. Registration requirement.
Sec. 7. Holding period.
Sec. 8. Signed release form requirement.
Sec. 9. Verification of identity of person relinquishing a dog or cat.
Sec. 10. Identifying photograph requirement.
Sec. 11. Certification requirement for pounds.
Sec. 12. Prohibition against transfer of dogs or cats between pounds.
Sec. 13. Pound employees treated as agents.
Sec. 14. Penalties for certain violations.
Sec. 15. Injunctions against pounds.
Sec. 16. Relationship to state law.
Sec. 17. Effective date.
SEC. 2. RESTRICTIONS ON SOURCES OF DOGS AND CATS
FOR 
RESEARCH 
OR 
EDUCATIONAL 
PUR-
POSES.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 7 of the Animal Welfare
Act (7 U.S.C. 2137) is amended to read as follows:
‘‘SEC. 7. RESTRICTIONS ON SOURCES OF DOGS AND CATS
FOR 
RESEARCH 
OR 
EDUCATIONAL 
PUR-
POSES.
‘‘(a) RESTRICTION APPLICABLE TO RESEARCH FA-
CILITIES.—It shall be unlawful for any research facility
to purchase, lease, or acquire in a calendar year a live
or dead dog or cat, in or affecting commerce, for research
or educational purposes, except from—
‘‘(1) a licensed dealer who bred and raised the
dog or cat;
‘‘(2) a pound that is in compliance with sections
6, 28, and 30, and that acquired the dog or cat from
the legal owner of the dog or cat;
‘‘(3) a person who bred and raised the dog or
cat and donated during the calendar year not more
than 1 animal to a research facility or Federal re-
search facility;
‘‘(4) a research facility that is registered with
the Department of Agriculture; or
‘‘(5) a Federal, State, or local government
agency which is not a pound.
‘‘(b) RESTRICTION APPLICABLE TO FEDERAL RE-
SEARCH FACILITIES.—It shall be unlawful for an individ-
ual acting as an employee or agent of a Federal research
facility to acquire a dog or cat for research or educational
purposes, except from an entity from which a research fa-
cility may do so.’’.
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 8 of such
Act (7 U.S.C. 2138) is amended by striking ‘‘research or
experimentation or’’.
SEC. 3. RESTRICTION ON SALE, DONATION, OFFER, OR
LEASE OF DOGS AND CATS FOR RESEARCH
OR EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES.
The Animal Welfare Act (7 U.S.C. 2131–2159) is
amended by inserting after section 17 the following:
‘‘SEC. 18. RESTRICTION ON SALE, DONATION, OFFER, OR
LEASE OF DOGS AND CATS FOR RESEARCH
OR EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES.
‘‘Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, a
person may not sell, donate, offer, or lease any live or dead
dog or cat, in or affecting commerce, to a research facility
or Federal research facility for research or educational
purposes unless the person is—
‘‘(1) a licensed dealer who bred and raised the
dog or cat;
‘‘(2) a pound that is in compliance with sections
6, 28, and 30, and that acquired the dog or cat from
the legal owner of the dog or cat;
‘‘(3) a person who bred and raised the dog or
cat and donated during the calendar year not more
than 1 animal to a research facility or Federal re-
search facility;
‘‘(4) a research facility that is registered with
the Department of Agriculture; or
‘‘(5) a Federal, State, or local government
agency which is not a pound.’’.
SEC. 4. DEFINITION OF POUND.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 2 of the Animal Welfare
Act (7 U.S.C. 2132) is amended—
(1) in subsection (n), by striking ‘‘and’’;
(2) in subsection (o), by striking the period and
inserting ‘‘; and’’; and
(3) by adding at the end the following:
‘‘(p) The term ‘pound’ means a facility (including a
shelter)—
‘‘(1) which operates for the purpose of caring
for stray animals; and
‘‘(2) which is owned or operated by, or provides
services under a contract to, a State or a political
subdivision of a State.’’.
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—
(1) Section 28(a)(2)(A) of such Act (7 U.S.C.
2158(a)(2)(A)) is amended to read as follows:
‘‘(A) each pound;’’.
(2) Section 28(a)(2)(B) of such Act (7 U.S.C.
2158(a)(2)(B) is amended—
(A) by inserting a comma after ‘‘city’’ and
‘‘pound’’; and
(B) by striking ‘‘or shelter’’.
SEC. 5. ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS FOR POUNDS.
The Animal Welfare Act (7 U.S.C. 2131–2159) is
amended by adding at the end the following:
‘‘SEC. 30. ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS FOR POUNDS.
‘‘(a) PUBLIC ACCESS.—
‘‘(1) TIMES.—A pound that releases a dog or
cat to a research facility or Federal research facility
shall be open to the public—
‘‘(A) on 1 day of each weekend for a mini-
mum of 3 hours; and
‘‘(B) until 6 o’clock post meridian at least
1 weekday per week.
‘‘(2) RECORDS.—A pound that releases a dog
or cat to a research facility or Federal research fa-
cility shall maintain, and provide to the public access
to, the records of the acquisition and disposition of
every dog and cat received by the pound.
‘‘(b) SCREENING AND TRAINING OF POUND EMPLOY-
EES AND APPLICANTS.—
‘‘(1) EMPLOYEES.—A pound that releases a
dog or cat to a research facility or Federal research
facility shall—
‘‘(A) require that every employee (whether
paid or unpaid) sign a form attesting—
‘‘(i) that the employee has not been
convicted of a crime relating to animal
theft or cruelty to animals; and
‘‘(ii) that the employee understands
that if the pound discovers that the em-
ployee has been convicted of a crime relat-