United States S 1538: Better CARE for Animals Act of 2025

Bill Text

II
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 Representa-1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Better Collaboration, 4
Accountability, and Regulatory Enforcement for Animals 5
Act of 2025’’ or the ‘‘Better CARE for Animals Act of 6
2025’’. 7
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SEC. 2. STRENGTHENING ANIMAL WELFARE ENFORCE-1
MENT. 2
(a) DEFINITIONS.—Section 2 of the Animal Welfare 3
Act (7 U.S.C. 2132) is amended— 4
(1) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘of the United 5
States or his representative who shall be an em-6
ployee of the United States’’ and inserting ‘‘or a 7
representative of the Secretary of Agriculture, who 8
shall be an employee of the’’; 9
(2) in subsection (c)(1), by adding ‘‘or’’ at the 10
end after the semicolon; and 11
(3) in each of subsections (a) through (o)— 12
(A) by inserting a subsection heading, the 13
text of which comprises the term defined in the 14
subsection; 15
(B) by reordering the subsections so as to 16
appear in alphabetical order based on the sub-17
section headings (as so added); and 18
(C) by redesignating the subsections (as so 19
reordered) appropriately. 20
(b) SALE OR TRANSPORTATION WITHOUT LI-21
CENSE.—Section 4 of the Animal Welfare Act (7 U.S.C. 22
2134) is amended to read as follows: 23
‘‘SEC. 4. SALE OR TRANSPORTATION WITHOUT LICENSE. 24
‘‘No dealer or exhibitor shall do any of the following 25
in commerce: exhibit, purchase, offer to purchase, sell, 26
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offer to sell, transport, or offer for transportation any ani-1
mal, unless the dealer or exhibitor has a valid license from 2
the Secretary that has not been suspended.’’. 3
(c) INVESTIGATIONS AND INSPECTIONS.—Section 4
16(c) of the Animal Welfare Act (7 U.S.C. 2146(c)) is 5
amended in the fourth sentence by striking ‘‘enforce, and 6
to prevent and restrain violations of this Act,’’ and insert-7
ing ‘‘enforce, prevent, and restrain violations of this Act, 8
or any rule, standard, or regulation promulgated pursuant 9
to this Act,’’. 10
(d) CIVIL PENALTY.—Section 19 of the Animal Wel-11
fare Act (7 U.S.C. 2149) is amended— 12
(1) in subsection (d), in the first sentence, by 13
inserting ‘‘, or any rule, standard, or regulation pro-14
mulgated thereunder,’’ before ‘‘shall’’; and 15
(2) by adding at the end the following: 16
‘‘(e) REWARDS AND CERTAIN INCIDENTAL EX-17
PENSES.—With respect to the sums received by the Sec-18
retary or the Attorney General as penalties or fines for 19
any violation of this Act or any rule, standard, or regula-20
tion promulgated thereunder, the Secretary or the Attor-21
ney General, as applicable, shall use those sums to pay 22
the reasonable and necessary costs incurred by any person 23
in providing temporary care for any animal pending the 24
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disposition of any civil or criminal proceeding alleging a 1
violation of this Act with respect to that animal.’’. 2
(e) ENFORCEMENT BY ATTORNEY GENERAL.—The 3
Animal Welfare Act is amended by inserting after section 4
19 (7 U.S.C. 2149) the following: 5
‘‘SEC. 20. ENFORCEMENT BY ATTORNEY GENERAL. 6
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General may bring 7
a civil action in the appropriate district court of the 8
United States for appropriate relief, including a temporary 9
restraining order, preliminary or permanent injunction 10
(including for removal or relocation of animals), license 11
revocation, and civil penalties of up to $10,000 for each 12
violation for each day during which the violation con-13
tinues, against any person who violates any provision of 14
this Act or any rule, standard, or regulation promulgated 15
thereunder. 16
‘‘(b) SEIZURE AND FORFEITURE OF ANIMALS.— 17
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Any animal that is sub-18
jected to conduct that constitutes a violation of this 19
Act, or any rule, standard, or regulation promul-20
gated thereunder, shall be subject to seizure and for-21
feiture to the United States in accordance with 22
chapter 46 of title 18, United States Code. 23
‘‘(2) COSTS.—Any person w