I 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 4691 
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. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
DECEMBER 20, 2017 
Mr. FITZPATRICK (for himself and Mr. CRIST) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture 
A BILL 
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. 
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 ‘‘Welfare of Our Friends 
Act of 2017’’ or the ‘‘WOOF! Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON ISSUING LICENSES TO CERTAIN 
PERSONS AS A RESULT OF LICENSE REVOCA-
TION. 
(a) DEFINITION.—Section 2 of the Animal Welfare 
Act (7 U.S.C. 2132) is amended by adding at the end the 
following: 
‘‘(p) The term ‘immediate family member’ means, 
with respect to a dealer— 
‘‘(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.—Sec-
tion 3 of the Animal Welfare Act (7 U.S.C. 2133) is 
amended— 
(1) by striking ‘‘The Secretary shall’’ and in-
serting ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall’’; 
(2) by striking ‘‘issued’’ and inserting ‘‘issued 
or renewed’’; 
(3) by striking ‘‘demonstrated’’ and inserting 
‘‘demonstrated through facility inspection’’; and 
(4) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(b) PROHIBITION ON ISSUING LICENSES TO CER-
TAIN PERSONS AS A RESULT OF LICENSE SUSPENSION 
OR REVOCATION.—(1) The Secretary shall not issue or 
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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 oppor-
tunity for hearing or revoked pursuant to section 
19(a) of this Act. 
‘‘(2) Paragraph (1) shall not apply to a person de-
scribed in such paragraph if such person shows by clear 
and convincing evidence that a dealer described in para-
graph (1)— 
‘‘(A) will have no ownership interest in the fa-
cility 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 CER-
TAIN LEGAL ENTITIES AS A RESULT OF LICENSE SUS-
PENSION 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 
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‘‘(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 LI-
CENSES.—Section 19 of the Animal Welfare Act (7 U.S.C. 
2149) is amended by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(e) REVOCATION
OF IMPROPERLY GRANTED LI-
CENSES.—The Secretary shall revoke a license issued after 
the date of the enactment of this subsection if the Sec-
retary subsequently determines that, at the time of 
issuance, the issuance of the license violated section 3 of 
this Act.’’. 
SEC. 3. REGULATIONS. 
The Secretary of Agriculture may prescribe such reg-
ulations 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. 
Æ 
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