Bill · H.R. 233· House(119-HR-233)
HELP PETS Act
- Introduced
- 1/7/2025
- Last activity
- 1/7/2025 — Referred to the House Committee on Education and Workforce.
- Sponsored by
- Nicole Malliotakis
- Cosponsors
- - 1 - 0
- Introduced
- In Committee
What this bill would do
This bill, known as the HELP PETS Act, aims to stop the flow of Federal money to colleges and universities that perform painful research on dogs and cats. Under this law, any institution of higher education that conducts or funds such research would no longer be eligible for Federal funds. This restriction would begin 180 days after the Act is passed. However, there are specific exceptions for clinical veterinary research and studies involving service or military animals. The bill specifically defines painful research as any testing or experimentation classified in pain category D or E by the Department of Agriculture.
Yes
Does this increase the pay, pensions or support veterans receive?+1
The bill protects the training and study of military animals used for veteran support through specific exceptions to the funding prohibition.
Would veterans be better off under this, taking everything together?+1
The bill includes exceptions to ensure the continued training and study of military animals which are vital to veteran support.
The opposite
Does this put more money into public schools?-3
The bill threatens the total federal funding availability for higher education institutions that engage in specified painful biomedical research.
Does this reduce what the federal government spends?-2
The bill reduces government spending by prohibiting the disbursement of federal funds to higher education institutions that conduct painful research on dogs and cats.
Would high-income households be better off under this?-1
The loss of federal research funding may impact the endowment and operational capacity of major research universities.
Who it would affect, and how
Potential Positive Impacts for People
-
Protection of animals from painful research: The bill prohibits Federal funds from going to institutions that conduct or fund painful research on dogs or cats, which includes experimentation classified in pain category D or E by the Department of Agriculture (Section 2(a) and Section 2(c)(4)).
-
Support for veterinary care: The bill allows for exceptions regarding clinical veterinary research, which is defined as research on a dog or cat with a naturally occurring disease or injury conducted for the benefit of that animal (Section 2(b)(1) and Section 2(c)(1)).
-
Preservation of training for service and military animals: The bill ensures that research, training programs, or studies related to service animals or military animals are not subject to the funding prohibition (Section 2(b)(2)).
Potential Negative Impacts for People
- Loss of Federal funding for higher education institutions: Institutions of higher education that conduct or fund painful biomedical research on dogs or cats will lose access to Federal funds starting 180 days after the Act's enactment (Section 2(a)).
Groups and Interests Ranking
Every group the model scored this bill for, from -10 to +10. Hover a score for the reason it gave.
- Education And Technology
- Increases Public School Funding-3
- Economy And Finance
- Reduces Government Spending-2
- National Security And Foreign Policy
- Improves Veterans Benefits+1
- Demographic And Interest Groups
- Good For Veterans+1Good For High Income Households-1
- 5/7/2026
- 1 Cosponsor added.
- 1/7/2025
- Referred to the House Committee on Education and Workforce.
- Introduced in House
One bill Congress.gov lists as related to this one — companions in the other chamber, earlier versions, and bills this one absorbed or was folded into.
Nicholas LangworthyRepublican · New York