[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 114 (Thursday, August 5, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Pages S10421-S10422]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. AKAKA:
  S. 1522. 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.


                 PET SAFETY AND PROTECTION ACT OF 1999

 Mr. AKAKA. Mr. President, today I am introducing the Pet 
Safety and Protection Act of 1999, a bill to close a serious loophole 
in the Animal Welfare Act. Senators Kennedy, Durbin, Inouye and Lebin 
are cosponsors of the legislation.
  Congress passed the Animal Welfare Act over 30 years ago to stop the 
mistreatment of animals and to prevent the unintentional 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 some unethical 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 concerned with the sale of stolen 
pets and stray animals to research facilities.
  These are less than 40 ``random source'' animal dealers operating 
throughout the country who acquire tens of thousands of dogs and cats. 
``Random source'' dealers are USDA licensed Class B dealers that 
provide animals for research. Many of these animals are family pets, 
acquired by so-called ``bunchers'' who sometimes 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. Some 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.

  Mr. President, the use of these 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 for the Office of 
Animal Care and Use at the National Institutes of Health echoed this 
sentiment when he stated, ``The continue 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 Safety and Protection 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 
Safety and Protection 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

[[Page S10422]]

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 the high fees 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 Safety and Protection Act also reduces the Department of 
Agriculture's regulatory burden by allowing the Department to sue 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 
Safety and Protection Act increases the penalties under the Act to a 
minimum of $1,000 per violation.
  The history of disregard for the provisions of the Animal Welfare Act 
by some animal dealers makes the Pet Safety and Protection Act 
necessary. Mr. President, the purpose of this Act to stop the 
fraudulent practices of some Class B Dealers. Most importantly, it 
ensures that animals used in research are not gained by theft or 
deceit, and are provided decent shelter, ventilation, sanitation, and 
nourishment. The bill in no way impairs or impedes research, but ends 
senseless neglect, brutality, and deceit.
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