[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1478 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







107th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1478

  To amend the Animal Welfare Act to improve the treatment of certain 
                    animals, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            October 1, 2001

  Mr. Santorum (for himself, Mr. Durbin, Mr. Warner, Mr. Smith of New 
 Hampshire, Mr. Levin, Mr. Miller, Mr. Lieberman, Mr. Breaux, and Mr. 
   Kennedy) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
   referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To amend the Animal Welfare Act to improve the treatment of certain 
                    animals, and for other purposes.

    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 ``Puppy Protection Act of 2001''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds that--
            (1) puppies in the United States are mass-produced at 
        breeding facilities known as ``puppy mills'';
            (2) those puppies are typically sold at 8 weeks of age to 
        retail operations or to live animal brokers that subsequently 
        sell the puppies to retail operations;
            (3) there are more than 3,000 commercial dog breeding 
        operations in the United States;
            (4) problems documented at puppy mills include--
                    (A) overcrowding in cages;
                    (B) lack of protection from the elements;
                    (C) infestation of food by rodents or insects;
                    (D) overbreeding;
                    (E) inbreeding;
                    (F) lack of proper veterinary care;
                    (G) lack of socialization with humans; and
                    (H) the killing of unwanted animals;
            (5) lack of early socialization seriously affects a dog's 
        ability to function as part of a human family and contributes 
        to behavior problems such as aggression;
            (6) factors contributing to the declining health of female 
        dogs and litters include--
                    (A) the breeding of female dogs during the first 
                estrus cycle when the female dogs are not fully mature; 
                and
                    (B) the breeding of female dogs each estrus cycle 
                without sufficient rest between litters;
            (7) the Department of Agriculture is responsible for 
        inspecting those facilities using a set of regulations for care 
        and treatment of the puppies and dogs promulgated under the 
        Animal Welfare Act (7 U.S.C. 2131 et seq.);
            (8) those facilities continue to operate despite repeated 
        violations of the regulations cited by Department of 
        Agriculture inspectors; and
            (9) consumers purchase from retail operations puppies that 
        are believed to be healthy and genetically sound, but that--
                    (A) suffer from an array of physical and behavioral 
                problems after purchase; or
                    (B) harbor genetic diseases and deficiencies that 
                may not surface until several years later.

SEC. 3. SOCIALIZATION PLAN; BREEDING RESTRICTIONS.

    Section 13(a)(2) of the Animal Welfare Act (7 U.S.C. 2143(a)(2)) is 
amended--
            (1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ``and'' at the end;
            (2) in subparagraph (B), by striking the period at the end 
        and inserting a semicolon; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(C) for the development of an engineering 
                standard, including a written plan of activities, based 
                on the recommendations of animal welfare and behavior 
                experts, for the socialization of dogs to facilitate 
                contact with other dogs and people; and
                    ``(D) for addressing the initiation and frequency 
                of breeding female dogs so that a female dog is not 
                bred--
                            ``(i) before the female dog has reached at 
                        least 1 year of age; and
                            ``(ii) more frequently than 3 times in any 
                        24-month period.''.

SEC. 4. REVOCATION OF LICENSE.

    Section 19 of the Animal Welfare Act (7 U.S.C. 2149) is amended--
            (1) by striking ``Sec. 19. (a) If the Secretary'' and 
        inserting the following:

``SEC. 19. SUSPENSION OR REVOCATION OF LICENSE, CIVIL PENALTIES, 
              JUDICIAL REVIEW, AND CRIMINAL PENALTIES.

    ``(a) Suspension or Revocation of License.--
            ``(1) In general.--If the Secretary'';
            (2) in subsection (a)--
                    (A) in paragraph (1) (as designated by paragraph 
                (1)), by striking ``if such violation'' and all that 
                follows and inserting ``if the Secretary determines 
                that 1 or more violations have occurred.''; and
                    (B) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(2) Mandatory revocation.--If any person licensed as a 
        dealer, exhibitor, or operator of an auction sale subject to 
        section 12, is found, after notice and opportunity for hearing, 
        to have violated any of the rules, regulations, or standards 
        governing the humane handling, transportation, veterinary care, 
        housing, breeding, socialization, feeding, watering, or other 
        humane treatment of animals under section 12 or 13 on 3 or more 
        separate occasions within any 8-year period, the Secretary, on 
        finding a third violation, shall revoke the license of the 
        person unless the Secretary makes a written finding that the 
        violations were minor and inadvertent, that the violations did 
        not pose a threat to the animals, or that revocation is 
        inappropriate for other good cause.'';
            (3) in subsection (b), by striking ``(b) Any dealer'' and 
        inserting ``(b) Civil Penalties.--Any dealer'';
            (4) in subsection (c), by striking ``(c) Any dealer'' and 
        inserting ``(c) Judicial Review.--Any dealer''; and
            (5) in subsection (d), by striking ``(d) Any dealer'' and 
        inserting ``(d) Criminal Penalties.--Any dealer''.

SEC. 5. REGULATIONS.

    Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the 
Secretary of Agriculture shall promulgate such regulations as are 
necessary to carry out the amendments made by this Act, including 
development of the standards required by the amendment made by section 
3.
                                 <all>