Pet and Women Safety Act of 2017
Latest action · Feb 7, 2017 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.
Progress
Where this bill reached, and when. A stage with no date was not reached; one that failed a vote and later carried shows the date it carried.
- IntroducedFeb 7, 2017
- Passed SenateNot reached
- Passed HouseNot reached
- To the PresidentNot reached
- Became lawNot reached
Summary
Pet and Women Safety Act of 2017
This bill amends the federal criminal code to broaden the definition of stalking to include conduct that causes a person to experience a reasonable fear of death or serious bodily injury to his or her pet.
Additionally, an interstate violation of a protection order includes interstate travel with the intent to violate a protection order against a pet that is included within the scope of the protection order. The bill specifies the applicable criminal penalty—a prison term of up to five years, a fine, or both—for a person who commits an interstate violation of a protection order against a pet.
With respect to a defendant who commits a domestic violence offense or an interstate violation of a protection order, mandatory restitution in the "full amount of victim's losses" includes costs incurred for veterinary services related to the pet.
The bill directs the Department of Agriculture to award grants for shelter and housing assistance and support services for domestic violence victims with pets.
Finally, it expresses the sense of Congress that states should include, in domestic violence protection orders, protections against violence or threats against a person's pet.
Cosponsors 41
Members who signed on, in the order they did. Signatures ran from Feb 7, 2017 to Oct 10, 2018; 1 is an original cosponsor, there from the day it was introduced.
| Seat | Cosponsor | Signed on | |
|---|---|---|---|
| R-NV | Dean Heller | Original | Feb 7, 2017 |
| I-VT | Bernard Sanders | Mar 29, 2017 | |
| R-AK | Lisa Murkowski | Mar 29, 2017 | |
| D-MI | Debbie Stabenow | Apr 6, 2017 | |
| D-MN | Al Franken | Apr 24, 2017 | |
| D-NJ | Cory A. Booker | Apr 24, 2017 | |
| D-VT | Patrick J. Leahy | Apr 24, 2017 | |
| R-ME | Susan M. Collins | Apr 24, 2017 | |
| D-MA | Elizabeth Warren | Apr 27, 2017 | |
| D-PA | Robert P. Casey Jr. | May 10, 2017 | |
| D-NV | Catherine Cortez Masto | May 23, 2017 | |
| D-WI | Tammy Baldwin | May 24, 2017 | |
| D-NH | Jeanne Shaheen | Jun 19, 2017 | |
| R-OH | Rob Portman | Jul 10, 2017 | |
| D-NY | Charles E. Schumer | Aug 1, 2017 | |
| D-IL | Tammy Duckworth | Aug 1, 2017 | |
| D-MD | Chris Van Hollen | Aug 2, 2017 | |
| D-NM | Martin Heinrich | Sep 7, 2017 | |
| D-CT | Christopher Murphy | Sep 14, 2017 | |
| D-MA | Edward J. Markey | Sep 14, 2017 | |
| D-MD | Benjamin L. Cardin | Sep 19, 2017 | |
| D-NJ | Robert Menendez | Oct 3, 2017 | |
| D-NY | Kirsten E. Gillibrand | Oct 5, 2017 | |
| D-CT | Richard Blumenthal | Oct 5, 2017 | |
| D-HI | Brian Schatz | Oct 16, 2017 | |
| D-DE | Christopher A. Coons | Oct 23, 2017 | |
| D-OR | Ron Wyden | Oct 23, 2017 | |
| D-OR | Jeff Merkley | Oct 24, 2017 | |
| D-NH | Margaret Wood Hassan | Oct 30, 2017 | |
| D-CA | Dianne Feinstein | Nov 2, 2017 | |
| D-OH | Sherrod Brown | Nov 15, 2017 | |
| D-CA | Kamala D. Harris | Nov 16, 2017 | |
| D-VA | Mark R. Warner | Nov 27, 2017 | |
| D-VA | Tim Kaine | Nov 30, 2017 | |
| D-NM | Tom Udall | Dec 12, 2017 | |
| D-WA | Maria Cantwell | Jan 3, 2018 | |
| R-LA | John Kennedy | Jan 24, 2018 | |
| D-DE | Thomas R. Carper | Aug 1, 2018 | |
| D-RI | Jack Reed | Sep 25, 2018 | |
| D-MO | Claire McCaskill | Oct 1, 2018 | |
| D-WA | Patty Murray | Oct 10, 2018 |
Committees 1
Where it was sent and what each committee and subcommittee did with it, in order.
| Chamber | Committee | What it did |
|---|---|---|
| Senate | Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee | Referred Feb 7, 2017 |
Actions 2
Everything that happened, newest first.
- Feb 7, 2017Introduced in Senate
- Feb 7, 2017Read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.
Research
What has been written about this bill: committee reports, cost estimates, the sponsor’s authority statement, printed hearings and the Congressional Research Service’s work.
CRS reports 1
Congressional Research Service work that CRS links to this bill or the law it became, newest first.
Cite it 1
Products on other subjects that cite it, usually among other measures.
| Product | Title | Kind | Published |
|---|---|---|---|
| R47180 | Legislative History of the Animal Welfare Act: In Brief Archived | Report | Jul 14, 2022 |
Related bills 2
Companion bills and other measures the record links to this one.
| Bill | Title | Relationship | Latest action |
|---|---|---|---|
| HR 2 | Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 | Related bill | Dec 20, 2018 |
| HR 909 | Pet and Women Safety Act of 2017 | Identical bill | Mar 9, 2017 |
Titles 2
Every title it has carried, official and short, at each stage.
- Official Title as Introduced
- A bill to protect victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking, and dating violence from emotional and psychological trauma caused by acts of violence or threats of violence against their pets.
- Short Titles as Introduced
- Pet and Women Safety Act of 2017
Subjects
Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Crime and Law Enforcement.
- Animal protection and human-animal relationships
- Assault and harassment offenses
- Crime and Law Enforcement
- Crime victims
- Crimes against animals and natural resources
- Crimes against women
- Domestic violence and child abuse
- Homelessness and emergency shelter
- Sex offenses
- Veterinary medicine and animal diseases
- Violent crime
Text 1
Each version as it was printed, newest first.
- Feb 7, 2017Introduced in Senate
Everything here is as published by Congress: the summary is the Congressional Research Service's, the action wording is the clerks', and the subjects are the Library of Congress's. How far it got is read from the actions themselves, taking the most recent one of each kind, so a bill that failed a vote and later passed is shown as having passed. Records come from this bill on Congress.gov and govinfo.gov; cost estimates are the Congressional Budget Office's, and the hearings are the printed hearings GovInfo publishes, which can appear months after the hearing.
