I
119THCONGRESS
1
STSESSION H. R. 297
To prohibit the availability of Federal funds to institutions of higher education
that conduct painful biomedical research on dogs and cats.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JANUARY9, 2025
Ms. M
ALLIOTAKISintroduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Education and Workforce
A BILL
To prohibit the availability of Federal funds to institutions
of higher education that conduct painful biomedical re-
search on dogs and cats.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Higher Education 4
Loses Payments for Painful Experiments, Tests and Stud-5
ies Act’’ or the ‘‘HELP PETS Act’’. 6
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•HR 297 IH
SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON AVAILABILITY OF FEDERAL 1
FUNDS TO INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER EDU-2
CATION THAT CONDUCT PAINFUL RESEARCH 3
USING DOGS AND CATS. 4
(a) I
NGENERAL.—Beginning on the date that is 180 5
days after the date of the enactment of this Act, no Fed-6
eral funds may be made available to any institution of 7
higher education that conducts or funds, in whole or in 8
part, painful research on dogs or cats. 9
(b) E
XCEPTIONS.—Subsection (a) shall not apply 10
to— 11
(1) clinical veterinary research; or 12
(2) any physical exam, training program, or 13
study relating to service animals or military animals. 14
(c) D
EFINITIONS.—In this section: 15
(1) C
LINICAL VETERINARY RESEARCH .—The 16
term ‘‘clinical veterinary research’’ means research 17
on a dog or cat with a naturally occurring disease 18
or injury that is conducted— 19
(A) for the benefit of the dog or cat; and 20
(B) with the intention of studying the ef-21
fect of a procedure, device, or treatment pro-22
tocol. 23
(2) I
NSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION .—The 24
term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ has the 25
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•HR 297 IH
meaning given the term in section 102 of the Higher 1
Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1002). 2
(3) M
ILITARY ANIMAL.—The term ‘‘military 3
animal’’ has the meaning given the term in section 4
2583(i)(1) of title 10, United States Code. 5
(4) P
AINFUL RESEARCH .—The term ‘‘painful 6
research’’ includes any research, biomedical training, 7
experimentation, or biological testing classified in 8
pain category D or E by the Department of Agri-9
culture. 10
(5) S
ERVICE ANIMAL.—The term ‘‘service ani-11
mal’’ has the meaning given the term in section 37.3 12
of title 49, Code of Federal Regulations. 13
Æ
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