[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 83 (Tuesday, June 23, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Page S6886]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. AKAKA (for himself, Mr. Inouye, Mr. Levin, Ms. Moseley-
        Braun, Ms. Landrieu, and Mr. Kennedy):
  S. 2202. A bill to amend the Animal Welfare Act to ensure that all 
dogs and cats used by research facilities are obtained legally; to the 
Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.


               the pet protection and safety act of 1998

 Mr. AKAKA. Mr. President, today I am introducing the Pet 
Protection and Safety Act of 1998, a bill to close a serious loophole 
in the Animal Welfare Act.
  Congress passed the Animal Welfare Act over 30 years ago to stop the 
mistreatment of animals and to prevent the sale of family pets for 
laboratory experiments. Despite the Animal Welfare Act's well-meaning 
intentions and the enforcement efforts of the Department of 
Agriculture, the Act routinely fails to provide pets and pet owners 
with reliable protection against the actions of USDA-licensed Class B 
animal dealers, also known as ``random source'' dealers.
  Medical research is an invaluable weapon in the battle against 
disease. New drugs and surgical techniques offer promise in the fight 
against AIDS, cancer, and a host of life-threatening diseases. Animal 
research has been, and continues to be, fundamental to advancements in 
medicine. I am not here to argue whether animals should or should not 
be used in research; rather, I am addressing the unethical practice of 
selling stolen pets and stray animals to research facilities.
  There are less than 40 ``random source'' animal dealers operating 
throughout the country who acquire tens of thousands of dogs and cats. 
Many of these animals are family pets, acquired by so-called 
``bunchers'' who resort to theft and deception as they collect animals 
and sell them to Class B dealers. ``Bunchers'' often respond to ``free 
pet to a good home'' advertisements, tricking animal owners into giving 
away their pets by posing as someone interested in adopting the dog or 
cat. Random source dealers are known to keep hundreds of animals at a 
time in squalid conditions, providing them with little food or water. 
The mistreated animals often pass through several hands and across 
state lines before they are eventually sold by a random source dealer 
to a research laboratory for $200 to $500 each.
  Mr. President, the use of animals in research is subject to 
legitimate criticism because of the fraud, theft, and abuse that I have 
just described. Dr. Robert Whitney, former director of the Office of 
Animal Care and Use at the National Institutes of Health echoed this 
sentiment when he stated, ``The continued existence of these virtually 
unregulatable Class B dealers erodes the public confidence in our 
commitment to appropriate procurement, care, and use of animals in the 
important research to better the health of both humans and animals.'' 
While I doubt that laboratories intentionally seek out stolen or 
fraudulently obtained dogs and cats as research subjects, the fact 
remains that these animals end up in research laboratories--and little 
is being done to stop it. Mr. President, it is clear to most observers, 
including animal welfare organizations around the country, that this 
problem persists because of random source animal dealers.
  The Pet Protection and Safety Act strengthens the Animal Welfare Act 
by prohibiting the use of random source animal dealers as suppliers of 
dogs and cats to research laboratories. At the same time, The Pet 
Protection and Safety Act preserves the integrity of animal research by 
encouraging research laboratories to obtain animals from legitimate 
sources that comply with the Animal Welfare Act. Legitimate sources are 
USDA-licensed Class A dealers or breeders; municipal pounds that choose 
to release dogs and cats for research purposes; legitimate pet owners 
who want to donate their animals to research; and private and federal 
facilities that breed their own animals. These four sources are capable 
of supplying millions of animals for research, far more cats and dogs 
than are required by current laboratory demand. Furthermore, at least 
in the case of using municipal pounds, research laboratories could save 
money since pound animals cost only a few dollars compared to $200 and 
$500 per animal charged by random animal dealers. The National 
Institutes of Health, in an effort to curb abuse and deception, has 
already adopted policies against the acquisition of dogs and cats from 
random source dealers.
  The Pet Protection and Safety Act also reduces the Department of 
Agriculture's regulatory burden by allowing the Department to use its 
resources more efficiently and effectively. Each year, hundreds of 
thousands of dollars are spent on regulating 40 random source dealers. 
To combat any future violations of the Animal Welfare Act, the Pet 
Protection and Safety Act increases the penalties under the Act to a 
minimum of $1,000 per violation.
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