Animal welfare legislation, tracked weekly.
A non-partisan, factual overview of bills moving through the U.S. Congress and state legislatures — with plain-language summaries and links to read more.
About this tracker. A neutral, informational summary of animal-welfare legislation introduced in U.S. legislatures. Bill descriptions explain what each bill would do if enacted — they are not endorsements or opposition. This list is regenerated weekly. For the most current text and status, follow the “Further reading” links on each bill.
Animal welfare laws by state
Each state is shaded by how many enacted animal welfare laws it has on the books — darker pink means more laws. Click any pink state to see its enacted laws and the bills currently moving through its legislature. Click the Federal button for laws and pending bills at the U.S. Congress level.
About this page. A neutral, informational summary of animal-welfare legislation in U.S. states and the federal government. The choropleth shading reflects the count of enacted bills only — that is, bills signed, chaptered, or otherwise made law. “In the works” are bills currently active in a legislature — introduced, in committee, on calendar, or awaiting signature. Bills that have died or been substituted are not shown. For the most current text and status, follow the “Further reading” links on each entry.
Find your elected representatives.
Use the links below to find who represents you in the U.S. Senate, the U.S. House, your state legislature, and your local government — each one takes you directly to the official lookup so you get current phone numbers, mailing addresses, and contact links.
Federal Your U.S. Senators
Each state has two U.S. Senators. Pick your state below to see both senators’ phone numbers, D.C. mailing addresses, and direct contact links on senate.gov.
Federal Your U.S. House Representative
A single ZIP code can span more than one congressional district, so we hand off to the official House.gov finder, which uses your full address to identify the right representative and pull up their contact information.
Find your U.S. House representative on house.gov
Enter your ZIP code on the official House finder. Once you select your rep, their page lists their D.C. and district office phone numbers, mailing addresses, contact form, and social media.
Open the House.gov finder →
State Your State Legislators
Most animal-welfare laws — cruelty statutes, breeding rules, shelter funding — are written at the state level. Enter your address below to find your state senator and state representative on OpenStates, a non-partisan project covering all 50 state legislatures.
Local Your Local Government
City councils and county commissions decide things like tethering ordinances, breed-specific rules, and municipal shelter funding. The USA.gov directory below lets you drill down by state, county, and city to find your mayor and other local officials.
Find your mayor, city council, and county officials on USA.gov
The official U.S. government directory of local agencies, organized by state. Each listing links out to the relevant city or county website with current contact information.
Open the USA.gov directory →
About this page. Every link above goes to an official government or established non-partisan civic source, so contact information stays current without anyone having to update this page. If a link ever stops working, the underlying government site has probably been redesigned — let us know and we’ll refresh it.