I 
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. 
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 Ag-
riculture 
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 Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Supporting Our Shel-
ters Act’’. 
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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 estab-
lish 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 ac-
tivities, 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 re-
newable if the grantee submits a report to the Sec-
retary 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— 
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‘‘(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 Sec-
retary shall submit to the Committee on Agriculture 
of the House of Representatives and the Committee 
on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the Sen-
ate 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.’’. 
Æ 
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