Senator Santorum's staff and Senate legislative counsel have completed a draft of the revised PAWS bill. The draft was provided to the US Department of Agriculture and the 26 Senate co-sponsors of PAWS at a briefing last week for their review and comment. The Discussion Draft of PAWS will be made public after input from the USDA and the co-sponsors is reviewed. Senator Santorum's staff has told us they expect this to be accomplished in the next few days.
The revised PAWS draft includes all of the provisions outlined in Senator Santorum's letter to AKC Chairman Ron Menaker on January 13, 2006. These include deleting all references to hunting, breeding and security dogs, both in PAWS and in the existing Animal Welfare Act; clarifying the numerical standards for the exemption of small retailers and breeders; clarifying the exemption for shelter and rescue organizations; and including an exemption for persons selling dogs and cats at retail who are in compliance with the standards of not-for-profit organizations such as the AKC which the Secretary of Agriculture has certified have standards and inspection protocols which provide at least equivalent protection to dogs and cats as are provided by the USDA's standards.
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Senator Santorum’s staff and Senate legislative counsel have completed a draft of the revised PAWS…