Humane Retirement Act
Bill: H.R.9072 | Sponsor: Rep. Rice, Kathleen M. (D-NY)
Policy area: Health

Summary:
Humane Retirement Act
This bill requires animal care committees at certain federal agencies conducting biomedical or behavioral research to make reasonable efforts to find parties to adopt dogs, cats, rabbits, and guinea pigs that have been retired from research. Prior to euthanizing, the animal care committee must assess the temperament of any such animal to determine whether it is suitable for adoption and, if so, make reasonable efforts to arrange for an adoption.

To amend the Public Health Service Act to ensure that healthy research 
       common companion animals are adopted into suitable homes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Humane Retirement Act''.

SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF ADOPTION POLICY FOR PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE 
              AGENCIES WITH RESPECT TO RETIRED COMMON COMPANION 
              ANIMALS.

    Section 495 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 289d) is 
amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(f)(1) Beginning one year after the date of the enactment of this 
subsection, guidelines of the Secretary under subsection (a)(3) shall 
require animal care committees described in such subsection that 
conduct biomedical and behavioral research at Public Health Service 
funded Federal agencies to, after the completion of any testing or 
research involving a common companion animal and prior to euthanizing 
such common companion animal, make a reasonable effort to offer such 
common companion animal for adoption, if suitable, in accordance with 
the following:
            ``(A) Such an animal care committee shall, after the 
        completion of such testing or research involving a common 
        companion animal and prior to euthanizing such common companion 
        animal, assess the health and temperament of the common 
        companion animal and determine whether it is suitable for 
        adoption.
            ``(B) If found to be suitable for adoption, such an animal 
        care committee shall make reasonable efforts to offer for 
        adoption the common companion animal to an adopting party.
            ``(C) An animal care committee shall ensure that any 
        adopting party described in any of clauses (ii) through (vi) of 
        paragraph (6)(A) provides a written assurance that the common 
        companion animal will be placed in a home and not with a 
        breeder, exhibitor, or research facility.
    ``(2) Nothing in this subsection shall be construed as--
            ``(A) creating a duty upon an adopting party to accept a 
        common companion animal offered by an animal care committee 
        described in paragraph (1); or
            ``(B) prohibiting such committee from euthanizing a common 
        companion animal if the requirements of this subsection are 
        otherwise met.
    ``(3) An animal care committee described in paragraph (1) and any 
officer, director, employee, or agent of such committee are immune from 
civil liability for any act or omission relating to the adoption of a 
common companion animal pursuant to this subsection.
    ``(4) Beginning not later than 1 year after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, and each year thereafter, an animal care 
committee described in paragraph (1) shall submit to the Secretary a 
report on adoptions that occurred as a result of the requirement 
specified in such paragraph. Each such report shall include the 
following:
            ``(A) The number and species of common companion animals 
        eligible for adoption at the research entity for which the 
        animal care committee was established.
            ``(B) The number of common companion animals adopted.
            ``(C) The types of adopting parties that adopted such 
        animals, disaggregated according to the categories of adopting 
        parties listed in paragraph (6)(A).
    ``(5) An animal care committee described in paragraph (1), may, in 
offering a common companion animal for adoption pursuant to paragraph 
(1), charge the adopting party a fee for that adoption (including for 
any services necessary to prepare the common companion animal for that 
adoption).
    ``(6) For purposes of this subsection:
    ``(A) The term `adopting party' means--
            ``(i) an individual adopting a common companion animal 
        through private placement;
            ``(ii) a bona fide animal rescue organization;
            ``(iii) a bona fide animal shelter organization;
            ``(iv) a bona fide society for the prevention of cruelty to 
        animals;
            ``(v) a bona fide humane society; or
            ``(vi) a bona fide animal protective association that 
        operates physical animal sheltering facilities and offers 
        households pets to the public for adoption by way of an 
        established adoption program.
    ``(B) The term `common companion animal' means a dog, cat, rabbit, 
or guinea pig.''.
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