Sponsor: Charles Canady (R-FL)
Purpose: To amend the Animal Welfare Act to ensure that all dogs and cats used by research facilities are obtained legally. H.R. 453 would prohibit dealers not breeding or raising dogs and cats from selling them to research facilities.
Status: Referred to the House Committee on Agriculture, Subcommittee on Livestock and Horticulture.
Action: SUPPORT. Write your representative and ask that he/she support H.R. 453. Tell your representative that companion animals are currently being stolen from cars at supermarkets and from people's yards to sell to a research laboratory. Dealers can earn hundreds of dollars for each dog stolen, and thousands of animals end up in medical experiments each year as a result. Tell your representative that H.R. 453 is not an anti-research bill but legislation proposed to cut down on the theft of companion animals for profit.
I am writing to urge you to support H.R. 453, the Pet Safety and Protection Act, which seeks to amend the Animal Welfare Act to ensure that all dogs and cats used by research facilities are obtained legally.
This bill would make it illegal for Class B animal dealers to supply cats and dogs to research facilities. Class A dealers, who breed animals specifically for research, would not be affected. Therefore, H.R. 453 is not an anti-research bill, but rather it is much needed legislation which would severely limit and possibly end the ways that an individual can profit from the theft of companion animals.
According to investigative reports, thousands of companion animals a year are stolen from people's yards and from cars at supermarkets to be sold to research laboratories. Dealers can earn hundreds of dollars for each dog stolen, and thousands of animals taken from families are used in medical experiments each year as a result. H.R. 453 would be an important step to ending this disturbing practice.
In a hearing held in the 103rd Congress, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which has jurisdiction over the nation's 1,113 Class B dealers (only 50 of whom provide cats and dogs to research), indicated that it supported the intent of H.R. 453.
I urge you to support this much needed legislation. I look forward to receiving a response from you on this issue of great importance to me.
Sincerely,
Alabama, Alaska, American Samoa, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Guam, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Virgin Islands, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming