Sponsors (8)
The bill pilots placing shelter dogs with CBP to improve officer wellbeing and support shelters, but it increases federal costs and imposes a tight startup timeline and limited duration that could cause rushed implementation and discontinuities if not managed carefully.
CBP officers and support staff will gain trained support dogs that can reduce morale and stress during operations, improving employee well-being and on-the-job resilience.
Local animal shelters may see more dog adoptions as CBP adopts shelter animals, lowering shelter crowding and costs and increasing placement rates for vulnerable animals.
CBP and DHS will run the effort as a limited 3-year pilot, allowing the agencies to evaluate effectiveness before deciding on wider implementation.
Taxpayers and CBP/DHS will incur costs for dog adoption, training, veterinary care, and program administration, increasing federal spending and program overhead.
CBP staff and administrators may face strain from a rapid 60-day deadline to stand up the program, risking rushed procurement, inadequate oversight, and implementation problems.
Handlers and CBP law-enforcement personnel could lose continuity if the short pilot (3 years) ends without transition planning, disrupting successful handler-dog teams and services.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Requires CBP to start a three-year pilot to adopt shelter dogs and train them as support dogs, established within 60 days of enactment.
Requires U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to run a three-year pilot that adopts dogs from local animal shelters and trains them as support dogs for CBP’s Support Canine Program. The pilot must be set up within 60 days of the law taking effect and ends three years after it begins.
Official title: To establish in U.S. Customs and Border Protection a pilot program to adopt dogs from local animal shelters to be trained as support dogs, and for other purposes.
Introduced June 18, 2026 by David Joyce · Last progress June 18, 2026