Senators Collins, Peters Urge Agriculture Committee Leaders to Include AFTER Act in Farm Bill

Bipartisan bill would require federal agencies to establish policies to ensure healthy animals are adopted or placed in shelters and sanctuaries rather than euthanized when no longer needed for research.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senators Susan Collins and Gary Peters (D-MI) wrote to Senators John Boozman (R-AR) and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), the Chair and Ranking Member, respectively, of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, requesting that the Animal Freedom from Testing, Experimentation, and Research (AFTER) Act be included in the Senate version of the 2026 Farm Bill. Senators Collins and Peters introduced the AFTER Act earlier this year to ensure that federal agencies that use animals for research establish formal policies to facilitate the relocation of retired, healthy lab animals to private homes, animal rescues, or reputable sanctuaries.

In their letter, Senators Collins and Peters emphasized that many of the approximately 40,000 animals used for research across 12 federal agencies each year are suitable for adoption, and that these healthy animals should not be euthanized by the government. They also stressed the importance of ensuring that the highest standards of humane animal care and treatment are upheld in taxpayer-funded research.

"In fiscal year 2024, the federal government experimented on approximately 40,000 regulated animals for research purposes across twelve federal agencies," Senators Collins and Peters wrote. "The animals used include cats, dogs, monkeys, and rabbits. In the absence of formal retirement policies at federal agencies, many of these otherwise healthy animals-who were purchased with taxpayer dollars-are euthanized rather than rehomed when they are no longer needed for federal research. This is wasteful and unnecessary. The Animal Freedom from Testing, Experimentation, and Research (AFTER) Act is simple: it makes retirement and adoption an option for healthy laboratory animals."

"Our legislation is narrowly tailored. It applies only to Animal Welfare Act-covered species and only to federal laboratories. It does not interfere with ongoing research. It does not mandate that animals be released," they continued. "It simply directs relevant federal agencies to develop policies to facilitate the adoption or sanctuary placement of laboratory animals to ensure that when animals are no longer needed for research, adoption and retirement are considered before such animals are euthanized at taxpayer expense."

"Animals that are suitable for adoption or retirement should not be killed by our federal government. Including the AFTER Act in the Senate Farm Bill would provide the necessary direction for federal agencies to move forward with developing retirement policies, ensuring that federal research upholds the highest standards of humane care and treatment and helping to prevent the needless euthanasia of healthy animals. We respectfully request that this widely supported reform be included in the Senate Farm Bill and retained in the final, bicameral package," they concluded.

Click here for the complete text of their letter.

+++

The AFTER Act directs federal agencies to develop regulations that would facilitate the retirement of lab animals. DOD, VA, FDA, and NIH already have these rules in place. The bill provides flexibility for each agency to devise its own policies, with the goal of ensuring that such animals are retired rather than killed whenever possible. The legislation requires that animals be evaluated by a licensed veterinarian and pronounced both mentally and physically healthy before leaving an agency, helping to ensure a smooth transition to a new environment. Additionally, the bill encourages federal agencies to work with nonprofit organizations to help place retired animals in sanctuaries and shelters across the country, not just those closest to the research facility.

The bill has been endorsed by Maine Humane, the Humane World Action Fund, White Coat Waste, and the Kindness Ranch Animal Sanctuary.

###

• Print
• Email
• Share
• Tweet