Keeping Pets and Families Together Act

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 9319 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 9319

To amend the Animal Welfare Act to direct the Secretary of Agriculture
 to enter into cooperative agreements to support the microchipping of
dogs and cats in the care of animal shelters or similar establishments,
                        and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 15, 2026

   Mr. Lieu introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
                        Committee on Agriculture

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

To amend the Animal Welfare Act to direct the Secretary of Agriculture
 to enter into cooperative agreements to support the microchipping of
dogs and cats in the care of animal shelters or similar establishments,
                        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 ``Keeping Pets and Families Together
Act''.

SEC. 2. COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS TO SUPPORT MICROCHIPPING OF DOGS AND
              CATS.

    The Animal Welfare Act (7 U.S.C. 2131 et seq.) is amended by
inserting after section 28 (7 U.S.C. 2158) the following:

``SEC. 28A. COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS TO SUPPORT MICROCHIPPING OF DOGS AND
              CATS.

    ``(a) In General.--Subject to the availability of appropriations,
the Secretary shall establish a program under which the Secretary will
enter into cooperative agreements with State and local governments for
purposes of supporting the capability of entities described in
subsection (b) to provide for microchipping of dogs and cats in their
care before allowing such dogs or cats to be recovered by their
original owner, adopted by other individuals, or transferred to another
animal shelter or rescue organization.
    ``(b) Entities Described.--An entity described in this subsection
is--
            ``(1) each pound or shelter owned and operated by a State
        or a unit of local government; and
            ``(2) each private entity established for the purpose of
        caring for animals, such as a humane society, or other
        organization that is under contract with a State or a unit of
        local government that operates as a pound or shelter and that
        releases animals on a voluntary basis.
    ``(c) Unit of Local Government Defined.--In this section, the term
`unit of local government' means a county, municipality, town,
township, village, or other unit of general government below the State
level.
    ``(d) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be
appropriated to carry out this section $5,000,000 for each of fiscal
years 2026 through 2030.''.

SEC. 3. REPORT ON EFFECTIVENESS OF MICROCHIPPING PROGRAM.

    Not later than December 31, 2030, the Secretary of Agriculture
shall submit to the Committee on Agriculture of the House of
Representatives and the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and
Forestry of the Senate a report that--
            (1) assesses the effectiveness of the program established
        under section 28A of the Animal Welfare Act, as added by
        section 2;
            (2) contains the Secretary's recommendation on whether to
        extend such program for an additional 5-fiscal-year period; and
            (3) the amount of funding necessary to effectively extend
        such program over such period.
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