Legislation

Strengthening Laws that Protect Animals and Striking Down Laws Hurting Animals

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The Animal Legal Defense Fund works at the federal, state and local levels to advance important legislation. We advocate for laws that promote or protect the lives and interests of animals, and we oppose legislation that would be detrimental to animals’ well-being.

We also work closely with the Animal Legal Defense Fund’s other programs to identify opportunities to create model legislation that address strategic legal issues in the areas of civil and criminal law, and monitor legislation that impacts animals at the federal, state, and local levels.

Federal Bills

Oppose: Save Our Bacon Act (Federal)

H.R. 4673

The Save Our Bacon Act, a repackaged version of the damaging EATS Act, would undermine individual states’ ability to enact their own laws affecting agricultural practices.

Oppose: Food Security and Farm Protection Act

S.1326

The Food Security and Farm Protection Act, a repackaged version of the damaging EATS Act, would undermine individual states’ ability to enact their own laws affecting agricultural practices.

Pigs and Public Health Act (Federal)

H.R. 4757

This bill aims to reduce the number of nonambulatory or ”downed” pigs — pigs who cannot stand or walk unassisted — in the food system.

Opposing the Cultivation and Trade of Octopus Produced through Unethical Strategies (OCTOPUS) Act (Federal)

S.1947

The Opposing the Cultivation and Trade of Octopus Produced through Unethical Strategies (OCTOPUS) Act would ban commercial octopus farming in the U.S. and prohibit imports of farmed octopus from foreign countries.

SEE ALL FEDERAL BILLS →

State Bills

State-level advocacy actions are available for those states in session. Each state has its own legislative schedule, holding sessions on predefined intervals.

Location

All

California (1)

Connecticut (1)

Florida (2)

Illinois (2)

Kentucky (1)

Maryland (1)

Massachusetts (7)

Michigan (1)

Missouri (2)

New Hampshire (1)

New Jersey (6)

New York (4)

Ohio (1)

Washington (2)

Requiring Dog-Encounter Training for Police Officers (Missouri)

H.B. 1719 (“Teddy’s Law”)

Missouri state legislation would require police officers to take training on how to properly handle canine encounters following a 2024 incident in which Teddy, a 13-pound blind and deaf dog, was shot and killed by an officer after wandering away from home.

Rodenticide Ban (Washington)

H.B. 2516

An Act Relating to Rodenticides will place a moratorium on all anticoagulant rodenticides as well as rodenticides that include bromethalin as an ingredient.

A Bill to Add a Companion Animal Protection Order for Victims of Domestic Violence (New York)

S. 8035

New York state legislation would authorize courts, upon issuance of an order of protection, to order that the exclusive care, custody, and control of certain companion animals be granted to the petitioner.

The Marine and Aquatic Native Threatened Animal (MANTA) Protection Act (Florida)

S.B. 988/H.B. 1171

If enacted, the MANTA Protection Act would prevent the needless and harmful capture of threatened and endangered wild animals.

Protecting Animal and Human Victims of Domestic Violence (Florida)

H.B. 277/S.B. 682

The Domestic Emergency and Batterers Reform and Accountability Act (H.B. 277/S.B. 682) would add animal abuse to the definition of domestic violence under Florida law.

Retail Pet Sales Ban Bills (Massachusetts)

S. 650 and S. 618

Two bills aim to ban the retail sales of pets in the state. S. 650 would prohibit the sale of dogs, cats, and rabbits in retail pet shops; S. 618 would additionally prohibit the sale of guinea pig

SEE ALL STATE BILLS →