HELP PETS Act

This bill, titled the "Higher Education Loses Payments for Painful Experiments, Tests and Studies Act" or the HELP PETS Act , aims to restrict federal funding for institutions of higher education. Specifically, it prohibits the availability of federal funds to any such institution that conducts or funds, in whole or in part, painful research on dogs or cats , with this restriction taking effect 180 days after the bill's enactment. However, the legislation includes specific exceptions to this prohibition. Federal funds would still be available for institutions conducting clinical veterinary research , which is defined as research on a naturally occurring disease or injury for the benefit of the animal. Additionally, any physical exam, training program, or study relating to service animals or military animals would also be exempt from the funding ban. The bill defines "painful research" to include any research, biomedical training, experimentation, or biological testing classified in pain category D or E by the Department of Agriculture.