The Secretary, acting in consultation with the Office of the Violence Against Women [1] of the Department of Justice, the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, and the Secretary of Health and Human Services, shall award grants under this section to eligible entities to carry out programs to provide the assistance described in paragraph (3) with respect to victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking and the pets, service animals, emotional support animals, or horses of such victims.
The Secretary may enter into a memorandum of understanding with the head of another Department or agency, as appropriate, to carry out any of the authorities provided to the Secretary under this section.[2]
Subject to subparagraph (B), assistance provided with respect to a pet, service animal, emotional support animal, or horse of a domestic violence victim using grant funds awarded under this section shall be provided for a period of not more than 24 months.
Not later than November 1 of each even-numbered fiscal year, the Secretary 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 contains a compilation of the information contained in the reports submitted under paragraph (6).
The term “domestic violence victim” means a victim of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking.
The term “emotional support animal” means an animal that is covered by the exclusion specified in section 5.303 of title 24, Code of Federal Regulations (or a successor regulation), and that is not a service animal.
The term “pet” means a domesticated animal, such as a dog, cat, bird, rodent, fish, turtle, or other animal that is kept for pleasure rather than for commercial purposes.
The term “service animal” has the meaning given the term in section 36.104 of title 28, Code of Federal Regulations (or a successor regulation).
Except as otherwise provided in this section, terms used in this section 2 shall have the meaning given such terms in section 12291(a) of this title.