[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3484 Introduced in House (IH)]







108th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3484

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


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            November 7, 2003

 Mr. Whitfield (for himself, Mr. Farr, Mr. Kildee, Mrs. Tauscher, Mr. 
 McDermott, Mr. Filner, Mr. George Miller of California, Mr. Kirk, Mr. 
Berman, Mr. Bilirakis, Mr. Olver, Mr. Moran of Virginia, Mr. Shays, Mr. 
 Udall of Colorado, Mr. Udall of New Mexico, Mr. Leach, Ms. McCollum, 
   Mr. Levin, Mr. Stark, Mr. Deutsch, Mr. Blumenauer, Mr. Kolbe, Mr. 
Honda, Mr. Holt, Mr. Wexler, Mr. Lipinski, Mr. Upton, Mr. Costello, Ms. 
 Eshoo, Mr. Pastor, Mrs. Lowey, Mr. English, Mr. Pallone, Mr. Sherman, 
  Ms. Woolsey, Ms. Berkley, and Mr. Inslee) introduced the following 
        bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the Animal Welfare Act to improve the standards for the care 
       and 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 2003''.

SEC. 2. BREEDING REQUIREMENTS.

    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 ``; and''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(C) for addressing the initiation and frequency 
                of breeding of female dogs so that a female dog is 
                not--
                            ``(i) bred before the female dog has 
                        reached at least 1 year of age; and
                            ``(ii) whelped more frequently than 3 times 
                        in any 24-month period.''.

SEC. 3. SUSPENSION OR REVOCATION OF LICENSE, CIVIL PENALTIES, JUDICIAL 
              REVIEW, AND CRIMINAL PENALTIES.

    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) Effect of multiple serious violations.--If the 
        Secretary finds that any person licensed as a dealer, 
        exhibitor, or operator of an auction sale subject to section 12 
        has committed a serious violation (as determined by the 
        Secretary) of any rule, regulation, or standard governing the 
        humane handling, transportation, veterinary care, housing, 
        breeding, feeding, watering, or other humane treatment of dogs 
        under section 12 or 13 on 3 or more separate inspections within 
        any 8-year period, the Secretary shall--
                    ``(A) suspend the license of the person; and
                    ``(B) after providing notice and a hearing not more 
                than 30 days after the third violation is noted on an 
                inspection report, revoke the license of the person 
                unless the Secretary makes a written finding that 
                revocation is unwarranted because of extraordinary 
                extenuating circumstances.'';
            (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. 4. 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.
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