Original Bill Text      Bill History      Original Bill Summary   

    Wisconsin Legislative Council AMENDMENT MEMO, AB 436   

    Senate/Assembly Amendments Summary   

   Senate/Assembly Amendment 1      Senate Substitute Amendment 1

   TAKE ACTION       Talking Points   

    What To Expect At A Public Hearing      Find your WI State Representatives   

    How a Bill Becomes a Law in Wisconsin   

     The bipartisan Beagle Freedom Bill, SB 414, relating to: requiring animal testing facilities and breeders to offer certain dogs and cats for adoption to releasing agencies and providing a penalty, was introduced into the WI State Senate on Sept. 4, 2025 by Senators Wanggaard, Carpenter, Habush Sinykin, Ratcliff, Spreitzer, Keyeski and Jagler, and cosponsored by Representatives Kitchens, Joers, Armstrong, Udell, Miresse, DeSmidt, Piwowarczyk, Maxey, Palmeri, Kreibich, Bare, Goodwin, Donovan, Sheehan, Anderson, Sinicki, Behnke, Melotik, Mursau and Stubbs. It was referred to the Senate Committee on Government Operations, Labor and Economic Development.. A public hearing was held on 1/27/26; you can read the Public Hearing Testimony and Materials here:

    Public Hearing Testimony & Materials   

     On September 19, 2025, the companion bill, AB 436, was Introduced into the Assembly by Representatives Kitchens, Joers, Armstrong, Udell, Miresse, DeSmidt, Piwowarczyk, Maxey, Palmeri, Kreibich, Bare, Goodwin, Donovan, Sheehan, Anderson, Sinicki, Behnke, Melotik, Mursau and Stubbs; and cosponsored by Senators Wanggaard, Carpenter, Habush Sinykin, Ratcliff, Spreitzer, Keyeski and Jagler. It was referred to the Assembly Committee on State Affairs. A public hearing was held February 11, 2026; the AMENDED bill was passed out of committee, and subsequently, on February 19, the AMENDED bill was passed by the entire Assembly.

    Public Hearing Testimony & Materials   

    Record of Committee Proceedings   

     We do NOT consider this a win. Below are a summary of the Amendment Memo and a link to the complete WI Legislative Council Amendment Memo.

     "Under the substitute amendment, for the transfer requirement to apply to a particular dog or cat in the possession of an animal testing facility, the animal testing facility’s attending veterinarian must determine that the dog or cat is suitable for adoption..." (Emphasis ours.)

     While the original bill requires most research facilities to turn over the animals to a "releasing agency" such as a shelter, rescue, etc., the amended bill "expands the option to operate an internal adoption program to all testing facilities and breeders, not just those that are state agencies or are operated by an institution of higher education."

     In addition, the record-keeping requirements are much watered down, with NO public accountability -- "records are confidential and exempt from public inspection, copying, or disclosure under the Public Records Law, s. 19.35, Stats" -- and "There is no penalty specified for violating the recordkeeping or reporting requirements."

    Wisconsin Legislative Council AMENDMENT MEMO, AB 436   

     The bill as written has a truly bipartisan group of co-sponsors, and another, Rep. Billings, was added on November 4, 2025, and Representative Steffen, on November 19. On January 8, 2026, Representative J. Jacobson joined the co-sponsor list.

From the Co-Sponsorship Memorandum on the original bill:

     Animals subjected to animal testing and research deserve a fair shot at a new beginning. Often these animals have never had a real home, a loving family, or a chance to run outside in fresh grass.

     Under current state and federal law, there is no statutory requirement for research organizations and animal testing facilities to observe an adoption period and make an active effort to find a family or adoption agency that will take in these dogs and cats.

     More than 15 states have passed laws requiring animal testing facilities to allow dogs to be adopted including our neighboring states of Minnesota, Iowa, Illinois, and Michigan.

     This bill would require research and testing institutions to hold a mandatory three-week adoption period where dogs and cats are able to be transferred to adoption agencies or directly adopted. Institutions that do not comply with the required adoption period will be subject to a fine no higher than $5,000.

SENATE/ASSEMBLY AMENDMENT 1/Substitute Amendment 1:

     On November 4, 2025, Senate Amendment 1 was proposed, according to a staffer for Sen. Wanggaard, after his office had been working with several research facilities on this bill -- no surprise that these facilities were opposed to it as written. On January 22, 2026, Senate Substitute Amendment 1 followed. These new amendments would:

• Clarifiy that the professional judgment of the research veterinarian will be used to determine whether an animal is suitable for adoption, based on the welfare of the animal. Certainly the input of the research veterinarian should be taken into consideration, but it seems to us that giving him/her the final say would be like putting the fox in charge of all of the henhouses.

• Allow research facilities and breeders to set up their own "adoption programs"/ arrange private placement in permanent adoptive homes. We feel that "releasing agencies" such as humane societies, rescues, etc. who have considerable experience in both rehabilitating traumatized dogs and screening potential adopters would be much better suited for placing the animals in question.

• Require facilities to retain their own records for 12 (36) months, available at DATCP’s request, and exempt from public records. The Substitute Amendment adds that each year, the facility must submit a report with the total number of dogs and cats transferred by [the facility] to a releasing agency or adopted out to individuals, and DATCP will publish, on its website, the total number of transfers. They may not publish any information on individual facilities. This unacceptable precedent would remove ALL transparency. The labs could be back to doing whatever they wish with the dogs, with no way for the public or regulating agencies to police them.

• Remove the penalty for recordkeeping requirements. With exemption from public records and NO penalty for not keeping the required records, the animals would be in a worse position than they are at present!

• Remove the wording in the bill description for use of "releasing agencies."Senate Substitute Amendment changes the bill description from the original "relating to: requiring animal testing facilities and breeders to offer certain dogs and cats for adoption to releasing agencies and providing a penalty" to relating to: requiring animal testing facilities and breeders to offer to transfer certain dogs and cats for adoption and providing a penalty..

     The amendments undermine the intent of the bill by handing control over adoptions entirely to the animal research institutions. It allows them to decide whether animals used in experiments are ever made available for adoption, shields their records from public oversight by exempting them from open-records laws, and eliminates penalties for failing to maintain or produce adoption records.

    Wisconsin Legislative Council AMENDMENT MEMO, AB 436   

   Senate/Assembly Amendment 1      Senate Substitute Amendment 1

    Find your WI State Representatives   

Original Bill Summary (by the Legislative Reference Bureau):

     "This bill requires animal testing facilities and persons that breed cats or dogs for sale or transfer to an animal testing facility to offer to a releasing agency for eventual adoption certain dogs and cats that do not pose a risk to public health. A “releasing agency” is defined to mean an animal shelter, humane society, animal welfare organization, society for the prevention of cruelty to animals, home-based rescue, or other entity that provides individuals with animals for adoption as companion animals. The bill requires that, if an animal testing facility is operated by a state agency or an institution of higher education, the state agency or institution of higher education may develop its own internal adoption program to effectuate the requirements of the bill.

     "The bill also requires animal testing facilities and breeders to annually report to the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection certain information about the dogs and cats that they offer to transfer to releasing agency.

     "A person who violates the provisions of the bill shall be subject to a forfeiture not to exceed $5,000."

     Reporting requirement for original bill: The bill requires each animal testing facility and breeder to annually, by January 31, submit to DATCP a report that includes all of the following information for the previous year:

• The total number of dogs and cats it owned.
• The total number of dogs and cats it used for research or testing.
• The total number of dogs and cats it transferred to a releasing agency for the purpose of adoption.
• The name and address of each releasing agency to which it transferred a dog or cat for the purpose of adoption.
• The total number of dogs and cats that were adopted from its internal adoption program, if applicable.

     Under the bill, any person who violates the transfer or reporting requirement is subject to a forfeiture not to exceed $5,000.

SENATE SUBSTITUTE AMENDMENT 1, TO SENATE BILL 414 (by the Legislative Reference Bureau):

     "This bill requires an animal testing facility, and a person that breeds dogs or cats for sale or transfer to an animal testing facility (breeder), to offer to a releasing agency for eventual adoption, or to transfer to a person for private placement in the person’s home, certain dogs and cats. The bill defines an “animal testing facility” as a facility that uses dogs or cats for research, education, testing, or other scientific or medical purposes. The bill defines a “releasing agency” as an animal shelter, humane society, animal welfare organization, society for the prevention of cruelty to animals, home-based rescue, or other entity that provides individuals with animals for adoption as companion animals.

     "Under the bill, an animal testing facility or breeder must offer to transfer a dog or cat in its possession to a releasing agency if 1) the animal testing facility or breeder no longer has a need for the dog or cat; 2) the dog or cat does not pose a health or safety risk to the public; and 3) for an animal testing facility, the facility’s attending veterinarian determines that the dog or cat is suitable for adoption, considering the welfare of the dog or cat. This offer to transfer a dog or cat must be open for at least three weeks prior to the animal testing facility or breeder effectuating the euthanasia of the dog or cat. An animal testing facility or breeder may develop its own internal adoption program to effectuate these requirements. An animal testing facility or breeder may also offer to transfer ownership and custody of a retired dog or cat to a person for private placement in the person’s permanent adoptive home. An animal testing facility or breeder that acts in good faith to transfer a dog or cat to a releasing agency or for private placement is not liable for civil damages for acts or circumstances related to or resulting from the transfer of the dog or cat.

     "The bill requires an animal testing facility or breeder to retain, for at least 36 months, records of the transfer or adoption of a dog or cat and to make these records available to the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection upon request. The bill also requires an animal testing facility or breeder to annually submit to DATCP a report identifying, for the preceding calendar year, the total number of dogs and cats transferred by the animal testing facility or breeder to a releasing agency or for private placement. The annual report and records submitted to DATCP are confidential and not subject to the open records law, except that DATCP must annually publish on its website the aggregated total number of dogs and cats transferred in the preceding calendar year by all animal testing facilities and breeders to releasing agencies and for private placement.

     "A person who violates the provisions of the bill, other than the record-keeping and annual report requirements, is subject to a forfeiture of up to $5,000 per dog or cat involved in the violation."

(Emphasis ours, for comparision.) Please read the entire WI Legislative Council Amendment Memo, AB 439, for a concise comparison of the original bill and the amended bill as passed by the Assembly.

    Wisconsin Legislative Council AMENDMENT MEMO, AB 436   

WHAT YOU CAN DO:

     General guidelines for contacting your representatives: Try to keep your message brief, and be sure to give your name, complete mailing address, and phone number. Let your representative know that you are a constituent. Please, ALWAYS be polite and respectful. Name-calling, and rude or abusive letters or emails will hurt, rather than help, our cause.

• PLEASE Contact ALL members of the Senate Committee on Government Operations, Labor and Economic Development. and and to your State Senator, and ask them to SUPPORT SB 414/AB 436, the WI Beagle Freedom Bill, WITHOUT AMENDMENT, requiring animal testing facilities and breeders to offer dogs and cats for adoption to releasing agencies! Also ask them to OPPOSE Senate Substitute Amendment 1, the bill as passed by the Assembly. Please note: If you are a constituent of any of these Committee members, let them know that. It is also a good idea to email the Committee Clerk.

  • Put "YES to SB 414/AB 436, the WI Beagle Freedom Bill, UNAMENDED and NO to Amendment 1" in the Subject line.

  • All you need to say in the email is: Dear [ ], I am writing to ask you please to SUPPORT ONLY THE ORIGINAL, UNAMENDED  SB 414/AB 436, the WI Beagle Freedom Bill, requiring animal testing facilities and breeders to offer dogs and cats for adoption to releasing agencies. I believe that animals who have been subjected to animal testing and research should finally discover what it is to be a dog, in a loving forever home. Also, please OPPOSE Senate/Assembly Substitute Amendment 1, which would strip out reporting requirements and put the disposition of the animals solely in the hands of the laboratories."

         Or, if you agree with our assessment that the amended SB 414/AB 436 is a huge win for the test labs, NOT the animals, and if it passes in the Senate, it will cement in statute that research facilities will have complete control of how many (if any) animals it releases for adoption and where they go, join us in urging the Senate committee to table the amended version and not pass it out of committee.

  • If you want to give reasons for your position, please see our Talking Points below!

  • Again, it is VERY important that you include your full name, street address, city, state and zip. Phone number and email address are also helpful.

    Find your WI State Representatives   

TALKING POINTS:

• Animals subjected to animal testing and research deserve a fair shot at a new beginning. Often these animals have never had a real home, a loving family, or a chance to run outside in fresh grass.

• Under current Wisconsin law, there are no requirements for research organizations and animal testing facilities to make an active effort to find a family or adoption agency that will take in these dogs and cats. HOWEVER, More than 15 states have passed laws requiring animal testing facilities to allow dogs to be adopted including our neighboring states of Minnesota, Iowa, Illinois, and Michigan.

• SB 414/AB 436 as originally written would require research and testing institutions to hold a mandatory three-week adoption period where dogs and cats are able to be transferred to adoption agencies or directly adopted. Institutions that do not comply with the required adoption period will be subject to upto $5,000 in fines.

  • As defined by the bill, “Releasing agency” means an animal shelter, humane society, animal welfare organization, society for the prevention of cruelty to animals, home-based rescue, or other nonprofit group that provides individuals with animals for adoption as companion animals. The Wisconsin humane community, with its decades of experience, is ready, willing, and able to help test subject animals move from laboratory life to caring homes.

  • If an animal testing facility is operated by a state agency or an institution of higher education, that facility may develop its own internal adoption program.

  • Also included in the bill are strict record-keeping requirements for the animal testing facilities, to be submitted annualy, detailing: a) The total number of dogs and cats it owned. (b) The total number of dogs and cats it used for research or testing. (c) The total number of dogs and cats it transferred to a releasing agency for the purpose of adoption. (d) The name and address of each releasing agency to which it transferred a dog or cat for the purpose of adoption. (e) The total number of dogs and cats that were adopted from its internal adoption program, if applicable.

• Federal agencies are already moving away from animal testing. As the nation shifts toward modern, humane research, it is inconsistent and indefensible to deny animals who have already suffered the chance to live out their remaining years in peace.

• The Wisconsin humane community is united in its support of the original Beagle Freedom Bill. They are ready, willing, and able to help test subject animals move from laboratory life to caring homes.

•      Senate Amendment 1 and Senate Substitute Amendment 1 were proposed, according to a staffer for Sen. Wanggaard, after his office had been working with several research facilities on this bill -- no surprise that these facilities were opposed to it as written. These new amendments:

• • Clarifiy that the professional judgment of the research veterinarian will be used to determine whether an animal is suitable for adoption, based on the welfare of the animal. Certainly the input of the research veterinarian should be taken into consideration, but it seems to us that giving him/her the final say would be like putting the fox in charge of all of the henhouses.

  • Allow research facilities and breeders to arrange private placement in permanent adoptive homes. We feel that "releasing agencies" such as humane societies, rescues, etc. who have considerable experience in both rehabilitating traumatized dogs and screening potential adopters would be much better suited for placing the animals in question.

  • Require facilities to retain their own records for 12 (36) months, available at DATCPs request, and exempt from public records. The Substitute Amendment adds that each year, the facility must submit a report with the total number of dogs and cats transferred by [the facility] to a releasing agency or adopted out to individuals, and DATCP will publish, on its website, the total number of transfers. They may not publish any information on individual facilities. This unacceptable precedent would remove ALL transparency. The labs could be back to doing whatever they wish with the dogs, with no way for the public or regulating agencies to police them.

  • Remove the penalty for recordkeeping requirements. With exemption from public records and NO penalty for not keeping the required records, the animals would be in a worse position than they are at present!

  • Remove the requirement for use of "releasing agencies."Senate Substitute Amendment changes the bill description from the original "relating to: requiring animal testing facilities and breeders to offer certain dogs and cats for adoption to releasing agencies and providing a penalty" to relating to: requiring animal testing facilities and breeders to offer to transfer certain dogs and cats for adoption and providing a penalty..

• Please read the entire Wisconsin Legislative Council AMENDMENT MEMO, AB 436, for a concise comparison of the original bill and the amended bill as passed by the Assembly.

• The amendments undermine the intent of the bill by handing control over adoptions entirely to the animal research institutions. It allows them to decide whether animals used in experiments are ever made available for adoption, shields their records from public oversight by exempting them from open-records laws, and eliminates penalties for failing to maintain or produce adoption records.

• Watering down the original bill with the proposed contradictory amendments may result in none of the test subject dogs or cats ever being free to enjoy "life after the lab." These animals deserve to feel sunshine instead of lab lights, grass and soft beds instead of wire cages, and the touch of compassionate hands in loving homes at last.

• Senate Committee on Government Operations, Labor and Economic Development. Public Hearing Testimony & Materials

    Original Bill Text      Bill History      Original Bill Summary   

    Senate/Assembly Amendment 1 Summary      Senate/Assembly Amendment 1   

   TAKE ACTION       Talking Points   

    What To Expect At A Public Hearing      Find your WI State Representatives   

    How a Bill Becomes a Law in Wisconsin   

    Reporting Animal Cruelty