PlainBillCongress, translated.Legislation. Context. Public interest.Referred to the Subcommittee on Livestock and Foreign Agriculture.
Congressional Research Service
Version 00 · Introduced in House · Dec 20, 2017
Welfare of Our Friends Act of 2017 or the WOOF! Act
This bill amends the Animal Welfare Act to prohibit the Department of Agriculture (USDA) from licensing a dealer of dogs whose previous licenses have been suspended or revoked in the last 10 years if the license is for operating a facility that the dealer previously used. Further, USDA may not issue or renew a license to: (1) the dog dealer's immediate family members, (2) a person who resides at the same address as the dog dealer, or (3) certain legal entities if such dealer holds an ownership interest in the entity.
People & committees
Rep. Fitzpatrick, Brian K. [R-PA-8] · R–PA
Legislative record
A procedural vote is different from passage. Passage in one chamber does not establish enactment. Explore the glossary.
Referred to the Subcommittee on Livestock and Foreign Agriculture.
Referred to the House Committee on Agriculture.
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Primary sources
Text links open the official source. We currently store references to these documents.
Source last updated: Aug 11, 2025. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
AI Conversation Starters
Choose a perspective, copy a prompt, and paste it into your preferred AI. Each prompt includes the bill version and available official source links, and asks for counterarguments as well as supporting evidence.
Analyze H.R.4691 as objectively as possible. Explain its main provisions, who would be affected, possible benefits and harms, implementation, exceptions, and uncertainties. Present the strongest arguments for and against it, and identify evidence needed to assess its public impact.
Examine H.R.4691 through a progressive lens, focusing on fairness, access, economic inequality, and effects on vulnerable communities. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and distinguish stated goals from demonstrated outcomes.
Examine H.R.4691 through a conservative lens, focusing on fiscal responsibility, institutional stability, federalism, and the scope of government. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and any provisions that challenge this perspective.
Examine H.R.4691 through a civil-liberties and limited-government lens. Consider individual rights, privacy, voluntary choice, accountability, and government power. Explain tradeoffs, possible safeguards, and the strongest counterarguments without assuming the proposal is beneficial or harmful.