I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 5897 

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. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 6, 2023 

Mr. AGUILAR (for himself, Mr. SCHIFF, Mr. KRISHNAMOORTHI, and Ms. 

GARCIA of Texas) introduced the following bill 

OCTOBER 25, 2023 

Referred to the Committee on Agriculture 

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. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Supporting Our Shel5 ters Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. GRANTS TO SUPPORT ANIMAL SHELTERS. 

2 Section 28 of the Animal Welfare Act (7 U.S.C. 

3 2158) is amended by striking subsection (d) and inserting 

4 the following: 

5 ‘‘(d) GRANTS TO SUPPORT ANIMAL SHELTERS.— 

6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall estab7 lish a program under which the Secretary will award 

8 grants to entities described in subsection (a)(2) for 

9 purposes of supporting the capability of such entities 

10 to provide care to animals in their care, including 

11 feeding, sheltering, veterinary care, recreational ac12 tivities, and the hiring, training, and retention of 

13 staff to provide such care. 

14 ‘‘(2) TERM.—The term of a grant under this 

15 subsection shall not exceed 3 years. Such term is re16 newable if the grantee submits a report to the Sec17 retary under paragraph (4) prior to the expiration of 

18 the respective term. 

19 ‘‘(3) REPORT TO SECRETARY.—Beginning not 

20 later than 180 days after the date on which the first 

21 grant is awarded under this subsection and each 

22 year thereafter, each recipient of a grant under this 

23 subsection shall submit to the Secretary a detailed 

24 accounting of— 


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1 ‘‘(A) the number of each species taken into 

2 the shelter and the outcome for each species 

3 during the period covered by the report; and 

4 ‘‘(B) how the recipient of the grant used 

5 grant funds during the period covered by the 

6 report. 

7 ‘‘(4) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Beginning not 

8 later than 180 days after the date of the enactment 

9 of this subsection and each year thereafter, the Sec10 retary shall submit to the Committee on Agriculture 

11 of the House of Representatives and the Committee 

12 on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the Sen13 ate a report on the program under paragraph (1), 

14 including an accounting of how the funds made 

15 available to carry out this subsection were used by 

16 recipients of grants under this subsection to improve 

17 animal care. 

18 ‘‘(e) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary shall promulgate 

19 regulations to carry out this section. Not later than 180 

20 days after the date of the enactment of subsection (d), 

21 the Secretary shall promulgate regulations to carry out 

22 such subsection.’’. 

Æ 


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