110 HR 6949 IH: To amend the Animal Welfare Act to provide further U.S. House of Representatives 2008-09-18 text/xml EN Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain.

I 110th CONGRESS 2d Session H. R. 6949 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES September 18, 2008 Mr. Farr (for himself, Mr. Gerlach, Mrs. Capps, Mr. Everett, Mr. Patrick J. Murphy of Pennsylvania, Mr. Nadler, Mr. Lipinski, Mr. Kennedy, Mr. Moore of Kansas, Mr. Frank of Massachusetts, Mr. Gallegly, Mr. McCotter, Mr. Kirk, Ms. Schakowsky, Mrs. Biggert, Mr. Moran of Virginia, Mr. McGovern, and Ms. McCollum of Minnesota) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture A BILL To amend the Animal Welfare Act to provide further protection for puppies.

1.

Short title

This Act may be cited as the Puppy Uniform Protection and Safety Act.

2.

Regulation of high-volume sellers of puppies

(a)

Retail pet store defined

Section 2 of the Animal Welfare Act (7 U.S.C. 2132) is amended by adding at the end the following new subsection: (p)The term retail pet store means a person that— (1)sells an animal directly to the public for use as a pet; and (2)does not breed or raise more than 50 dogs for use as pets during any one-year period. . (b)

Licenses

Section 3 of the Animal Welfare Act (7 U.S.C. 2133) is amended in the second proviso— (1)by striking retail pet store or other person who and inserting retail pet store, or other person who (1) does not breed or raise more than 50 dogs for use as pets during any one-year period, and (2); and (2)by striking research facility and inserting research facility,. (c)

Humane standards

Section 13 of the Animal Welfare Act (7 U.S.C. 2143) is amended— (1)by redesignating subsection (g) and (h) as subsections (h) and (i), respectively; (2)by redesignating the second subsection (f) as subsection (g); and (3)by adding at the end the following new subsection: (j)(1)Subject to paragraph (2), a dealer shall provide each dog held by such dealer that is of the age of 12 weeks or older with a minimum of two exercise periods during each day for a total of not less than one hour of exercise during such day. Such exercise shall include removing the dog from the dog’s primary enclosure and allowing the dog to walk for the entire exercise period, but shall not include use of a treadmill, catmill, jenny mill, slat mill, or similar device, unless prescribed by a doctor of veterinary medicine. (2)Paragraph (1) shall not apply to a dog certified by a doctor of veterinary medicine, on a form designated by and submitted to the Secretary, as being medically precluded from exercise. .

3.

Effect on State law

The amendments made by this Act shall not be construed to preempt any law or regulation of a State or a political subdivision of a State containing requirements that are greater than the requirements of the amendments made by this Act.