I 
118TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3894 
To amend the Animal Welfare Act to prohibit commercial greyhound racing, 
live lure training, and open field coursing, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 7, 2023 
Mr. CARBAJAL (for himself, Mr. NUNN of Iowa, Mr. CA´RDENAS, Ms. MACE, 
Mrs. CHAVEZ-DEREMER, and Mr. DAVIS of North Carolina) introduced 
the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture 
A BILL 
To amend the Animal Welfare Act to prohibit commercial 
greyhound racing, live lure training, and open field cours-
ing, 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 ‘‘Greyhound Protection 
Act of 2023’’. 
SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL FINDINGS AND POLICY. 
The Congress finds the following: 
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(1) Greyhounds have existed for thousands of 
years and are the only canines mentioned by name 
in the Bible. 
(2) Commercial greyhound racing was first le-
galized in Florida in 1931. 
(3) Modern racetracks require internet-based 
wire communications to process bets and wagers, 
calculate odds, broadcast races, announce results, 
and pay winnings to gamblers. The majority of gam-
bling on dog racing now occurs via simulcast and on-
line. 
(4) Public records reveal that some greyhounds 
used for live commercial racing suffer serious inju-
ries including broken backs, broken necks, head 
trauma, paralysis, seizures, and electrocution. 
(5) Regulatory records show that some racing 
greyhounds test positive for drugs including cocaine, 
amphetamines, barbituates, opiods, and steroids. 
(6) State investigatory files document that rac-
ing greyhounds are kept confined for 20 to 23 hours 
a day in stacked, metal cages, typically with little 
opportunity to socialize with other dogs. 
(7) Many small animals, including jack rabbits 
and hares, are bought, sold, delivered, transported, 
and received in interstate and foreign commerce for 
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use as live bait in the training of racing greyhounds 
and in open field coursing. 
(8) Typically, animals used in live lure training 
of greyhounds may be dragged on ropes, hung from 
a horizontal pole which rotates around a training 
track, or simply set loose to be chased and mauled. 
Alive or dead, helpless bait animals may be used re-
peatedly until they are torn apart. 
(9) Live lure training is prohibited in more 
than a dozen States, but there is no Federal statute 
prohibiting such practice. In the late 1970s, the Na-
tional Greyhound Association, a membership organi-
zation representing breeders, trainers, and other in-
dustry participants, announced a policy against live 
lure training in order to convince the late Senators 
Birch Bayh and Robert Dole to withdraw their pro-
posed legislation. 
(10) Open field coursing preceded commercial 
dog racing and is an activity in which greyhounds or 
other sighthounds are released to pursue and kill 
bait animals, including jack rabbits and hares, often 
in a fenced area. Greyhounds may collide and suffer 
injuries in the chase. 
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(11) Dog owners travel from multiple States 
and countries to compete and win prizes and some-
times gamble on open field coursing events. 
(12) As with commercial greyhound racing, 
internet sites are used to promote coursing tour-
naments and post results to a worldwide audience. 
(13) The National Field Coursing Association is 
the umbrella group for coursing clubs nationwide 
and maintained 12 clubs in California as of 2006. 
(14) Open field coursing is illegal in as many 
as 12 States. 
(15) Open field coursing was prohibited as a 
blood sport in Scotland in 2002, and in the United 
Kingdom in 2004. 
(16) 25 years ago, there were 60 greyhound 
tracks in the United States. With the voter-man-
dated closure of 12 dog tracks in Florida and the 
voluntary shut down of Southland Park in Arkansas 
and Iowa Greyhound Park in 2022, only 2 tracks, 
both in West Virginia, will remain nationwide. 
(17) According to the State of Florida, track 
owners had been collectively losing more than 
$30,000,000 annually because of sagging attendance 
and decreased wagering. According to a State-com-
missioned report, the State spent more money regu-
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lating the industry in its national hub than it gen-
erated in tax revenue. Similarly, nearly $20,000,000 
is diverted annually to subsidize the 2 West Virginia 
tracks. 
(18) According to State records, more than 
10,000 greyhound injuries have been reported at 
West Virginia racetracks since 2008. More than 
3,500 dogs suffered broken bones during this period, 
and at least 437 dogs died after suffering serious in-
juries. 
(19) Live commercial dog racing is illegal in 42 
States. As of December 2022, this dying industry 
will remain legal and operational in no more than 1 
State. 
SEC. 3. PROTECTION OF GREYHOUNDS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Animal Welfare Act (7 
U.S.C. 2131 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 
the following: 
‘‘SEC. 30. PROTECTION OF GREYHOUNDS. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—It shall be unlawful— 
‘‘(1) for any person to knowingly engage in 
commercial greyhound racing, live lure training, or 
open field coursing events in which any animal is 
moved in interstate or foreign commerce; 
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‘‘(2) to conduct commercial greyhound racing 
or racing meeting where any form of betting or wa-
gering on the speed or ability of greyhounds occurs; 
‘‘(3) to conduct open field coursing or live lure 
training with the use of any bait that is not an inan-
imate object; 
‘‘(4) to engage in or facilitate simulcast betting 
or wagering on greyhound races in interstate or for-
eign commerce; and 
‘‘(5) for any person to knowingly sell, buy, pos-
sess, train, transport, deliver, or receive any animal 
for purposes of having the animal participate in 
commercial greyhound racing, live lure training, or 
open field coursing events. 
‘‘(b) INVESTIGATIONS.—The Secretary or any other 
person authorized by the Department shall make such in-
vestigations as the Secretary deems necessary to deter-
mine whether any person has violated or is violating any 
provision of this section, and the Secretary may obtain the 
assistance of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the De-
partment of the Treasury, or other law enforcement agen-
cies of the United States, and State and local govern-
mental agencies, in the conduct of such investigations, 
under cooperative agreements with such agencies. 
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‘‘(c) PENALTIES.—Any person who violates any of 
paragraphs (1) through (5) of subsection (a) shall be fined 
under this title, imprisoned for not more than 7 years, 
or both, for each such violation. Each instance of a viola-
tion of any such paragraph shall be considered a single 
violation. 
‘‘(d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
‘‘(1) COMMERCIAL GREYHOUND RACING.—The 
term ‘commercial greyhound racing’ means any 
event in which betting or wagering on the speed or 
ability of greyhounds occurs. 
‘‘(2) SIMULCAST.—The term ‘simulcast’ means 
remote gambling on foreign or domestic greyhound 
races taking place elsewhere.’’. 
(b) DEFINITION OF ANIMAL.—Section 2(g) of the 
Animal Welfare Act (7 U.S.C. 2132(g)) is amended by in-
serting ‘‘hare,’’ after ‘‘rabbit,’’. 
SEC. 4. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. 
Nothing in this Act, or the amendments made by this 
Act, shall be construed— 
(1) to preempt any State law prohibiting gam-
bling or protecting the welfare of animals including 
but not limited to greyhounds, jackrabbits, and 
hares; or 
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(2) to alter, limit, or extend the relationship be-
tween the Interstate Horseracing Act of 1978 (15 
U.S.C. 3001 et seq.) as it relates to horse racing 
and other Federal laws in effect on the date of en-
actment of this Act. 
Æ 
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