Protecting America’s Working Dogs Act of 2026
Working Dog Medical Care: Grant Program for Retired K9s
The Protecting America’s Working Dogs Act of 2026 is currently in the early stages of the legislative process and has been sent to three different House committees for review. It is considered active, but no further hearings or votes have been scheduled yet. There is no companion bill currently associated with this legislation.
Legislative Progress
Key Points
- This bill would create a new grant program to help pay for the medical bills of retired federal working dogs and service dogs that assist veterans or retired federal officers.
- The program would provide grants of up to $575,000 to nonprofit organizations that focus on caring for these animals and helping their owners with veterinary costs.
- To get the money, a nonprofit must show that it spends at least 70% of its budget directly on medical care for the dogs, such as doctor visits, surgeries, and medicine.
- Many of these dogs serve in the military, the FBI, or at airports and retire with health issues from their years of hard work, which can be very expensive for the families who adopt them.
- The Attorney General would run the program for five years and would have to report to Congress on how many dogs were helped and what their average medical costs were.
Impact Analysis
Govbase has not yet run an impact analysis on this legislation.
Milestones
Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committees on Armed Services, and Veterans' Affairs, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Sent to a congressional committee for expert review. The committee decides whether this bill moves forward.
Introduced in House
The bill was officially filed and given a number. It now enters the legislative queue.
Votes
No votes have been recorded for this legislation yet.
News
No related news coverage found for this legislation yet.
Source Information
Document Type
Congressional Bill
Official Title
Protecting America’s Working Dogs Act of 2026
Data Sources
Sponsor
Analysis generated by AI. Always verify with official sources.