--- title: Bill Could Give Federal Lab Animals a Chance at a New Home description: A new bill would require all Federal agencies to have a policy for having lab animals adopted or retired if they're not needed for research. canonical: https://time.com/5639473/laboratory-animals-bill/ author: Tara Law article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2019-07-30T23:02:32.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-24T00:07:26.644Z article:section: Politics og:title: Senate Bill Could Save Many Federal Lab Animals' Lives and Give Them a New Home og:description: About 50,000 regulated animals were in federal labs last year og:url: https://time.com/5639473/laboratory-animals-bill/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt00e9f43c05f2ccb4/698a00a3656a3f52d9bd8a95/beagle.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2005 og:image:height: 1128 og:image:alt: Beagle og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Senate Bill Could Save Many Federal Lab Animals' Lives and Give Them a New Home twitter:description: About 50,000 regulated animals were in federal labs last year twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt00e9f43c05f2ccb4/698a00a3656a3f52d9bd8a95/beagle.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Senate Bill Could Save Many Federal Lab Animals' Lives and Give Them a New Home > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME D.C. Brief: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition D.C. Brief is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. Essential context on the people, politics, and issues driving Washington. D.C. Brief goes beyond the Washington headlines to explain the politics, personalities and power dynamics shaping what happens next. Senior correspondent Philip Elliott brings sharp context to the issues driving the capital, connecting the decisions made in Washington to the institutions, industries and people they affect. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters.  by [Tara Law](https://time.com/author/tara-law/)  ## Tara Law Jul 30, 2019 11:02 PM UTC  A Beagle in a cage A Beagle in a cage MichaelSvoboda—Getty Images  by [Tara Law](https://time.com/author/tara-law/)  ## Tara Law Jul 30, 2019 11:02 PM UTC Many dogs, cats, primates and other research animals are killed in federal laboratories each year because agencies don’t have a policy that allows animals to find new homes after their testing has finished. That could change under a new bill. A bipartisan group of senators introduced the Animal Freedom from Testing, Experimentation and Research [(AFTER) Act](https://www.collins.senate.gov/sites/default/files/AFTER%20ACT%20final.pdf) on Tuesday, which would require that any U.S. agency with a federal research facility to create a policy to “facilitate and encourage the adoption” of animals that are no longer needed for research. The bill outlines that animals no longer needed by research facilities and that a veterinarian finds to be “mentally and physically healthy” would be placed with an with a animal rescue group, animal sanctuary or shelter, or given it to someone who wants to keep them as a pet. The bill would impact species covered by the Animal Welfare Act, which regulates the treatment of warm-blooded animals except for mice, rats and birds. Last year, about 50,000 animals protected by the Act – mostly dogs, cats, primates and rabbits – were being held in federal labs. The legislation was introduced by two Republicans and two Democrats – Sens. Susan Collins of Maine, Martha McSally of Arizona, Gary Peters of Michigan and Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire. Several animal rights organizations have voiced support for the proposal. The [White Coat Waste Project](https://time.com/5555118/kitten-cannibalism-usda/), which opposes federal animal testing, applauded the bill. “On behalf of our more than 2 million members in Maine, Michigan, Arizona, New Hampshire and beyond, we applaud Senators Collins, Peters, McSally and Shaheen for introducing the AFTER Act to ensure dogs, cats, primates and other animals get a second chance at life outside of a lab when government experiments end,” said Bellotti ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5639473/laboratory-animals-bill/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5639473/laboratory-animals-bill/"},"headline":"Senate Bill Could Save Many Federal Lab Animals' Lives and Give Them a New Home","datePublished":"2019-07-30T23:02:32.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-24T00:07:26.644Z","description":"About 50,000 regulated animals were in federal labs last year","url":"https://time.com/5639473/laboratory-animals-bill/","keywords":["Senate","animals","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt00e9f43c05f2ccb4/698a00a3656a3f52d9bd8a95/beagle.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Tara Law","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/tara-law/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt00e9f43c05f2ccb4/698a00a3656a3f52d9bd8a95/beagle.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Beagle","caption":"Beagle","creditText":"MichaelSvoboda—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/senate/","name":"Senate"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5639473/laboratory-animals-bill/","name":"Senate Bill Could Save Many Federal Lab Animals' Lives and Give Them a New Home"}}]}] ```