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

Captive Primate Safety Act (Federal)

Federal Legislation

The Captive Primate Safety Act prohibits private possession of nonhuman primates and the sale or transportation of nonhuman primates for the wild “pet” trade.

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.

Mink VIRUS Act (Federal)

H.R.2185

Congress is considering a ban on mink farming to protect public health and human safety from the risk of disease transmission, including COVID-19 and avian flu, to people and wild mink populations, as well as to address concerns of animal well-being.

Pigs and Public Health Act (Federal)

H.R. 8994 

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

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 (2)

Connecticut (1)

Hawaii (2)

Illinois (2)

Kentucky (1)

Maryland (1)

Massachusetts (7)

Michigan (1)

Missouri (1)

New Hampshire (1)

New Jersey (6)

New York (3)

Ohio (1)

Washington (1)

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

Pet Custody (Massachusetts)

S.1206/H.1817

Protects the best interests of a companion animal when a couple is splitting up by providing a framework for judges to use in determining care and custody of the animal.

Octopus Farming Ban (New Jersey)

S.3914/A.5078

In recognition of the “advanced cognitive abilities” of octopuses, An Act prohibiting the aquaculture of any species of octopus for the purpose of human consumption (S.3914/A.5078) seeks to prohibit octopus aquaculture, also known as octopus farming.

Ensuring Wildlife Connectivity Act (Washington)

S.B.5203

The bill would protect wildlife from vehicle collisions and prevent habitat fragmentation by providing safe corridors, such as over- and underpasses.

Courtroom Animal Advocate Program (Michigan)

H.B. 6024 

Courtroom Animal Advocate Program (CAAP) laws allow advocates — supervised law students or volunteer lawyers — to advocate for animal victims in criminal cruelty cases.

A Bill to Ban Wild Animals in Circuses (New York)

A.5850/S.3629-A 

This New York bill would prohibit the use of certain wild animals in traveling animal acts throughout the state, including big cats, bears, nonhuman primates, kangaroos, and wallabies.

SEE ALL STATE BILLS →