H.R. 349 — Goldie’s Act

This section amends the Animal Welfare Act (AWA)—which establishes standards for the humane handling, care, treatment, and transport of certain animals by dealers, research facilities, exhibitors, and others—to strengthen enforcement as follows: (1) adds a definition of "violation" to include any deficiency, deviation, or other failure to comply with the AWA or related regulations or standards; (2) revises inspection and investigation requirements to mandate annual inspections of regulated entities (with follow-up until violations are corrected), detailed documentation of violations, and prompt confiscation or humane destruction of animals suffering physical or psychological harm due to noncompliance (if no longer needed for research), while prohibiting regulated entities from destroying such animals or others without USDA consent; (3) requires USDA to share violation records from inspections or investigations with state, local, and municipal animal control or law enforcement officials within 24 hours; and (4) restructures civil penalty procedures to specify notice via inspection reports, hearings within 21 days (conducted by at least one veterinarian and two animal care specialists or directors) with limited continuances, penalties of up to $10,000 per violation (calculated per animal and per violation, with each day of continuing violation a separate offense) that may not be reduced by 10% or more after considering entity size, violation gravity, good faith, and violation history, and designation of a USDA official to establish and enforce penalty guidelines designed to deter future violations.