[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1538 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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119th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 1538
To amend the Animal Welfare Act to expand and improve the enforcement
capabilities of the Attorney General, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
April 30, 2025
Mr. Blumenthal (for himself and Mr. Kennedy) introduced the following
bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on
Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Animal Welfare Act to expand and improve the enforcement
capabilities of the Attorney General, 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 ``Better Collaboration,
Accountability, and Regulatory Enforcement for Animals Act of 2025'' or
the ``Better CARE for Animals Act of 2025''.
SEC. 2. STRENGTHENING ANIMAL WELFARE ENFORCEMENT.
(a) Definitions.--Section 2 of the Animal Welfare Act (7 U.S.C.
2132) is amended--
(1) in subsection (b), by striking ``of the United States
or his representative who shall be an employee of the United
States'' and inserting ``or a representative of the Secretary
of Agriculture, who shall be an employee of the'';
(2) in subsection (c)(1), by adding ``or'' at the end after
the semicolon; and
(3) in each of subsections (a) through (o)--
(A) by inserting a subsection heading, the text of
which comprises the term defined in the subsection;
(B) by reordering the subsections so as to appear
in alphabetical order based on the subsection headings
(as so added); and
(C) by redesignating the subsections (as so
reordered) appropriately.
(b) Sale or Transportation Without License.--Section 4 of the
Animal Welfare Act (7 U.S.C. 2134) is amended to read as follows:
``SEC. 4. SALE OR TRANSPORTATION WITHOUT LICENSE.
``No dealer or exhibitor shall do any of the following in commerce:
exhibit, purchase, offer to purchase, sell, offer to sell, transport,
or offer for transportation any animal, unless the dealer or exhibitor
has a valid license from the Secretary that has not been suspended.''.
(c) Investigations and Inspections.--Section 16(c) of the Animal
Welfare Act (7 U.S.C. 2146(c)) is amended in the fourth sentence by
striking ``enforce, and to prevent and restrain violations of this
Act,'' and inserting ``enforce, prevent, and restrain violations of
this Act, or any rule, standard, or regulation promulgated pursuant to
this Act,''.
(d) Civil Penalty.--Section 19 of the Animal Welfare Act (7 U.S.C.
2149) is amended--
(1) in subsection (d), in the first sentence, by inserting
``, or any rule, standard, or regulation promulgated
thereunder,'' before ``shall''; and
(2) by adding at the end the following:
``(e) Rewards and Certain Incidental Expenses.--With respect to the
sums received by the Secretary or the Attorney General as penalties or
fines for any violation of this Act or any rule, standard, or
regulation promulgated thereunder, the Secretary or the Attorney
General, as applicable, shall use those sums to pay the reasonable and
necessary costs incurred by any person in providing temporary care for
any animal pending the disposition of any civil or criminal proceeding
alleging a violation of this Act with respect to that animal.''.
(e) Enforcement by Attorney General.--The Animal Welfare Act is
amended by inserting after section 19 (7 U.S.C. 2149) the following:
``SEC. 20. ENFORCEMENT BY ATTORNEY GENERAL.
``(a) In General.--The Attorney General may bring a civil action in
the appropriate district court of the United States for appropriate
relief, including a temporary restraining order, preliminary or
permanent injunction (including for removal or relocation of animals),
license revocation, and civil penalties of up to $10,000 for each
violation for each day during which the violation continues, against
any person who violates any provision of this Act or any rule,
standard, or regulation promulgated thereunder.
``(b) Seizure and Forfeiture of Animals.--
``(1) In general.--Any animal that is subjected to conduct
that constitutes a violation of this Act, or any rule,
standard, or regulation promulgated thereunder, shall be
subject to seizure and forfeiture to the United States in
accordance with chapter 46 of title 18, United States Code.
``(2) Costs.--Any person whose act or omission is the basis
for a seizure authorized by subparagraph (1) may be charged a
reasonable fee for expenses to the United States relating to
the transfer and care of the seized animal.
``(c) Warrants.--The judges of the district courts of the United
States and United States magistrate judges may, within their respective
jurisdictions, on proper oath or affirmation showing probable cause,
issue such warrants or other processes as may be required for
enforcement of this Act and any rule, standard, or regulation
promulgated thereunder.
``(d) Savings Clause.--
``(1) Attorney general.--No action taken by the Attorney
General pursuant to this section shall affect or limit the
authority of the Secretary to enforce any provision of this Act
or any rule, standard, or regulation thereunder.
``(2) Secretary.--No action taken by the Secretary shall
affect or limit the authority of the Attorney General under
this Act.''.
(f) Authority To Apply for Injunctions.--Section 29(b) of the
Animal Welfare Act (7 U.S.C. 2159(b)) is amended by striking the second
sentence.
(g) Severability.--The Animal Welfare Act (7 U.S.C. 2131 et seq.)
is amended by adding at the end the following:
``SEC. 30. SEVERABILITY.
``If any provision of this Act, or the application thereof, is held
invalid, the validity of the remainder of this Act and the application
of such provision to other persons and circumstances shall not be
affected.''.
(h) Memorandum of Understanding.--Not later than 180 days after the
date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Agriculture shall enter
into a memorandum of understanding with the Attorney General to carry
out the authorities granted by the amendments made by this section,
including an agreement to provide the Attorney General with timely
information about violators who have multiple citations that seriously
or adversely affect the health or well-being of an animal.
SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS.
It is the sense of Congress that--
(1) section 16(c) of the Animal Welfare Act (7 U.S.C.
2146(c)) establishes the jurisdiction of Federal courts to
address violations of, and cases arising from violations of,
that Act and provides the Attorney General with the authority
to bring such cases in Federal court; and
(2) the enforcement jurisdiction of the Federal courts, and
the corresponding enforcement authority of the Attorney
General, include violations of the rules, standards, and
regulations promulgated under that Act.
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