Sponsors (19)
The bill raises care and disease-prevention standards for dogs in commercial and research settings, improving animal welfare but imposing additional compliance costs on dealers and small businesses.
Dealers, research facilities, and exhibitors will be required to provide dogs with minimum space, exercise, socialization, and veterinary care, improving animal welfare and reducing disease spread.
Dealers and small business owners will face higher operating costs for facility upgrades, fencing, staffing, and veterinary services to meet the new standards.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Sets statutory minimum housing, exercise, socialization, feeding, temperature, and veterinary-care standards for dogs held by dealers, exhibitors, and research facilities under the Animal Welfare Act.
Official title: Amend the Animal Welfare Act to establish additional requirements for dealers, and for other purposes.
Introduced April 29, 2026 by Richard Joseph Durbin · Last progress April 29, 2026
Adds new minimum humane-handling, housing, exercise, socialization, feeding, water, temperature, and veterinary care standards for dogs kept by dealers, exhibitors, and research facilities under the Animal Welfare Act. Establishes size-based indoor floor-space requirements, bans stacked enclosures, requires safe exercise access or veterinarian-approved alternatives, daily socialization with people and compatible dogs, and specified preventive and annual veterinary care including vaccinations and parasite prevention. Applies these requirements to dogs older than eight weeks (with some provisions for dogs over 12 weeks), and directs the Secretary to include these standards in dealer rules under existing law; it sets operational details (feeding frequency, water access, temperature range) but does not appropriate new funds or create new programs in the text provided.