A bill we have backed to stop shelter animals from being used in laboratory experiments has been passed unanimously by the California Senate. 

The bill expressly prohibits the acquisition of live animals from public or private animal shelters for use in experiments or testing – a practice commonly known as "pound seizure." 

This practice has even led to heartbreaking incidents where family pets have been stolen and sold to laboratories or lost animals were used in experiments before their families were able to claim them. Shelter animals have also been killed instead of being offered for adoption, and their bodies sold to dealers for use in teaching. This bill will permanently close the door on this dark and abusive practice. If signed into law, California will become the eightieth US state to ban pound seizure. 

A 2016 YouGov public opinion poll we commissioned revealed that 68% of American adults agree that dogs found or given to animal shelters should not be sold to laboratories for experiments.*

Find out more about our campaign to end the use of shelter dogs in experiments around the world.

*All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from YouGov Plc. Total sample size was 1,107 adults. Fieldwork was undertaken between 16th - 17th February 2016. The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all US adults (aged 18+)