H.R. 5020

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5020 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 5020

To amend the Animal Welfare Act to direct the Secretary of Agriculture 
to establish a program under which the Secretary will award grants to 
entities for purposes of supporting the capability of such entities to 
provide care to animals in their care, and for other purposes.

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IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

August 22, 2025

Ms. Escobar (for herself, Ms. Garcia of Texas, and Mr. Krishnamoorthi) 
introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
Agriculture

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A BILL

To amend the Animal Welfare Act to direct the Secretary of Agriculture 
to establish a program under which the Secretary will award grants to 
entities for purposes of supporting the capability of such entities to 
provide care to animals in their care, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ``Supporting Our Shelters Act''.

SEC. 2. GRANTS TO SUPPORT ANIMAL SHELTERS.

Section 28 of the Animal Welfare Act (7 U.S.C. 2158) is amended by 
striking subsection (d) and inserting the following:
``(d) Grants To Support Animal Shelters.--
``(1) In general.--The Secretary shall establish a program 
under which the Secretary will award grants to entities 
described in subsection (a)(2) for purposes of supporting the 
capability of such entities to provide care to animals in their 
care, including feeding, sheltering, veterinary care, 
recreational activities, and the hiring, training, and 
retention of staff to provide such care.
``(2) Term.--The term of a grant under this subsection 
shall not exceed 3 years. Such term is renewable if the grantee 
submits a report to the Secretary under paragraph (4) prior to 
the expiration of the respective term.
``(3) Report to secretary.--Beginning not later than 180 
days after the date on which the first grant is awarded under 
this subsection and each year thereafter, each recipient of a 
grant under this subsection shall submit to the Secretary a 
detailed accounting of--
``(A) the number of each species taken into the 
shelter and the outcome for each species during the 
period covered by the report; and
``(B) how the recipient of the grant used grant 
funds during the period covered by the report.
``(4) Report to congress.--Beginning not later than 180 
days after the date of the enactment of this subsection and 
each year thereafter, the Secretary shall submit to the 
Committee on Agriculture of the House of Representatives and 
the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the 
Senate a report on the program under paragraph (1), including 
an accounting of how the funds made available to carry out this 
subsection were used by recipients of grants under this 
subsection to improve animal care.
``(e) Regulations.--The Secretary shall promulgate regulations to 
carry out this section. Not later than 180 days after the date of the 
enactment of subsection (d), the Secretary shall promulgate regulations 
to carry out such subsection.''.
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