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Adds a new paragraph (p) to define the term "violation" for purposes of the Animal Welfare Act.
Revises subsection (a) to impose specific duties on the Secretary to determine violations, expand inspection and documentation requirements, require annual inspections of research facilities and premises of dealers and exhibitors, mandate follow-up inspections until corrections, and require promulgation of rules directing inspectors to confiscate or humanely destroy animals meeting specified criteria with prompt confiscation and restrictions on owners destroying animals once notified.
Adds a new subsection (c) requiring prompt disclosure of inspection/investigation violation records to State, local, and municipal animal control or law enforcement officials.
Rewrites subsection (b) to specify penalty procedures and amounts, establish notice and hearing procedures (including verified delivery of inspection reports as notice and required hearing composition and timing), require penalty calculations on a per-animal and per-violation basis with limits on reduction, direct designation of a Department of Agriculture official to set penalty guidelines, provide for Attorney General civil action to collect unpaid penalties, and impose a $1,500 civil penalty for knowingly failing to obey a cease and desist order.
Referred to the House Committee on Agriculture.
Strengthens how the U.S. Department of Agriculture enforces the Animal Welfare Act by defining what counts as a violation, requiring regular inspections and required follow-ups, and expanding inspectors’ powers to seize or humanely destroy animals that are in immediate danger. It also requires rapid sharing of violation records with local authorities, increases penalties and collections procedures for violators, and sets clearer rules for hearings and penalty calculations.
Introduced January 13, 2025 by Nicole Malliotakis · Last progress January 13, 2025
Adds a new definition: the term “violation” means any deficiency, deviation, or other failure to comply with a provision, regulation, or standard under the Animal Welfare Act.
The Secretary must determine whether dealers, exhibitors, intermediate handlers, carriers, research facilities, or operators of auction sales subject to section 12 have violated or are violating the Act or its rules.
The Secretary must have access at all reasonable times to business locations, facilities, animals, and the records those entities are required to keep under section 10.
The Secretary must make inspections and investigations needed to determine violations, document detailed descriptions of any violations observed, and inspect each research facility and the premises of each dealer and exhibitor at least once each year. Follow-up inspections must continue until all violations are corrected.
The Secretary must issue rules requiring inspectors to confiscate or humanely destroy any animal that meets the criteria described in the law, and that confiscation must occur promptly upon discovery during an inspection or investigation.
Who is affected and how:
Regulated animal facilities (breeders, dealers, exhibitors, research institutions, shelters, transporters, veterinary boarding facilities): These entities will face more frequent inspections, stricter follow-up requirements, higher exposure to civil penalties, and faster public/local notification of violations. They may need to increase recordkeeping, staff training, facility upgrades, or legal support to comply.
USDA inspectors and agency staff: USDA gains clearer statutory tools and responsibilities (inspection scheduling, seizure authority, emergency humane-destruction authority, records sharing, administrative hearings and collections). The agency will likely need to allocate more administrative resources to implement inspection, enforcement, hearing, and collections functions.
Local law enforcement and animal control agencies: Will receive violation records more quickly and may be required or expected to act on shared information, increasing coordination and potentially their workload.
Animals in regulated care: Likely to benefit from faster corrective action and the ability of inspectors to remove animals from harmful situations sooner, reducing prolonged suffering in violation cases.
Courts and administrative adjudicators: May see more contested enforcement actions, hearings, and appeals related to seizure authority, humane-destruction decisions in the field, penalty calculations, and collections.
Net effects:
Uncertainties:
Expand sections to see detailed analysis
Referred to the Subcommittee on Livestock, Dairy, and Poultry.
Referred to the House Committee on Agriculture.
Introduced in House