Sponsors (3)
The bill expands and coordinates retirement and sanctuary placement options for many federal research animals and preserves state/local authority, but it excludes rats and mice and imposes new administrative and financial burdens on agencies and research facilities.
Nonprofits, licensed sanctuaries, shelters, and private adopters will be able to receive medically fit federal research animals (with nonhuman primates required to go to licensed sanctuaries), increasing long-term care quality and chances of rehoming.
State and local governments retain the ability to enforce stronger animal welfare standards than the federal baseline, allowing jurisdictions to maintain higher protections.
Nationwide placement and encouragement of collaboration with 501(c)(3) nonprofits expand rehoming networks, improving coordination and placement opportunities for eligible federal research animals.
Hospitals, universities, research facilities, and nonprofits that work with lab animals will see limited benefit because rats (Rattus) and mice (Mus) — the most commonly used lab animals — are excluded from the bill's "covered animals" and retirement pathways.
Federal research facilities and taxpayers may face new costs to have animals evaluated by licensed veterinarians and to arrange national placements or sanctuary transfers.
Researchers and federal facility managers will have reduced flexibility because mandated placement requirements could complicate animal management, disposal, and research operations.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Requires federal agencies that operate labs or exhibit animals to follow Animal Welfare Act standards and issue rules within 90 days to retire and place eligible research animals with rescues, sanctuaries, shelters, or individuals.
Introduced March 24, 2026 by Susan Margaret Collins · Last progress March 24, 2026
Requires federal departments, agencies, and instrumentalities that operate laboratory animal facilities or exhibit animals to follow Animal Welfare Act standards and to issue regulations within 90 days to facilitate retirement and placement of animals no longer needed for research. The measure adds legal definitions (for example, rescue organization, sanctuary, shelter, covered animal, and nonprofit) and excludes animals in the genera Rattus and Mus (commonly, most rats and mice) from the covered-animal definition. The bill directs agencies to create processes to place retired research animals with rescues, sanctuaries, shelters, or qualified individuals (with nonhuman primates placed in sanctuaries), requires national placement consideration and collaboration with nonprofit organizations, preserves more stringent state or local animal-welfare laws and existing chimpanzee placement law, and makes technical renumbering changes to existing statutory subsections.