Rep. Chris Smith, Jason Duke, and Beaker—one of nearly 4,000 beagles rescued from inhumane treatment at an Envigo testing laboratory.

            Teaming up to boost efforts in the fight against animal abuse, Reps. Chris Smith (R-NJ) and Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) have reintroduced the Pet Safety and Protection Act (HR 208)—bipartisan legislation to permanently prohibit the sale of animals to research labs by Class B (or random source) dealers who round up pets that are often lost or stolen.

            “Class B dealers have routinely failed to meet basic Animal Welfare Act Standards and there is no sign they will ever improve,” said Smith, a member of the Congressional Animal Protection Caucus. “Closing them down once and for all will give people greater confidence in our research programs and go a long way toward ensuring cherished pets do not end up becoming victims of horrific abuse.”

            “Shutting down Class B dealers is one of the most important things we can do,” said Blumenauer. “A family’s beloved pet that may have been lost or stolen should not be at risk of being sold for profit into the animal research pipeline, but we lack the ability to protect them. As co-chair of the Animal Protection Caucus, I am pleased to co-lead this bill that toughens the restrictions on how animals are obtained for research purposes, and in particular puts an end to Class B dealers.”

            The Smith-Blumenauer legislation, which has already received the strong endorsement of many notable animal welfare advocacy groups—including the Animal Welfare Institute, Human Society Legislative Fund, American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA), Last Chance for Animals, and White Coast Waste Project—would:

            ·         Prohibit the sale of random source dogs and cats to laboratories by Class B dealers;

            ·         Prevent stray animals, who may be lost family pets, from being sold to labs for testing; and

            ·         Remove the financial incentives pursued by criminals who illegally acquire dogs and cats to sell for research.

             “We are grateful to Rep. Smith for renewing his long-standing sponsorship of and commitment to the Pet Safety and Protection Act (PSPA), and to Rep. Blumenauer for adding his active support to this effort,” said Nancy Blaney, the Animal Welfare Institute’s Director of Government Affairs. “Congress has acted through its spending bills to prevent the licensing of dealers who acquire dogs and cats from random sources and sell them to research facilities. But the PSPA is very much needed so there is no doubt that this cruel pipeline is not an acceptable source of animals for research.”

             “Class B dealers must never again be able to take dogs and cats—by stealing or other shady means—to sell them into research,” said Humane Society Legislative Fund President Sara Amundson. “Representatives Smith and Blumenauer understand that the American public has no stomach for these horrible enterprises that spurred enactment of the original Animal Welfare Act almost 60 years ago.”

            “We thank Representative Smith for introducing the Pet Safety and Protection Act, which would remove the financial incentives for obtaining animals to sell to researchers through ‘free-to-good home’ ads, theft, and rounding up stray animals,” said Richard Patch, Vice President of Federal Affairs for the Animal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA). 

            “After decades of advocacy to prevent stolen household pets from being sold to research facilities, we achieved a major win late last year, when Congress defunded licenses for Class B dealers permanently,” said Chris DeRose, Founder and President of Last Chance for Animals (LCA). “While we are proud of this victory, we also know that nefarious actors are always looking for loopholes to get around the law. LCA applauds Representatives Smith and Blumenauer for re-introducing the Pet Safety and Protection Act to ensure that research facilities will also face punishment if they acquire animals that were lost or stolen. We hope their colleagues in Congress will join them in protecting household pets from being sold to research labs for profit.”  

            “We applaud Rep. Chris Smith (NJ-04) for leading bipartisan efforts to ensure taxpayer dollars are not wasted to purchase lost, stolen, and abandoned dogs and cats from shady dealers for abuse in cruel and outdated experiments,” said Justin Goodman, Senior Vice President of Advocacy and Public Policy at the non-profit government watchdog White Coat Waste Project. “A supermajority of Americans across the political spectrum want Congress to cut spending on dog and cat experiments and we’re grateful to Rep. Smith for cracking down on this waste and abuse.” 

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