Protecting America’s Working Dogs Act of 2026
Summary
What This Bill Does
The Protecting America's Working Dogs Act directs the Attorney General to run a grant program beginning no later than one fiscal year after enactment and continuing for four additional fiscal years. Each grant may not exceed $575,000 and must help eligible nonprofit organizations pay medical expenses for qualified working dogs.
An eligible nonprofit must primarily care for qualified working dogs, provide medically related financial help to their owners, spend at least 70 percent of its budget on program expenses directly tied to covered medical care, and separately report veterinary expenses on its IRS Form 990. Applicants must document eligibility. Grants may pay for veterinary visits, procedures, diagnostic tests, medication, and medically necessary supplements. A later award is reduced by any unspent grant funds from prior years.
Qualified dogs include retired dogs that performed military, security, or law-enforcement work for the federal government and service dogs working for veterans or retired federal law-enforcement officers. The Attorney General must report to Congress on the number of dogs assisted and average medical expense per dog.
Who Benefits and How
Owners of retired federal working dogs benefit from nonprofit assistance with substantial veterinary costs. Veterans and retired federal law-enforcement officers benefit when grants help pay medical expenses for their service dogs. Eligible working-dog nonprofits receive federal grant revenue, and veterinary clinics, diagnostic laboratories, and medication suppliers gain reimbursed demand for covered care.
Who Bears the Burden and How
Nonprofit applicants must satisfy the 70-percent program-spending test, separately disclose veterinary expenses on Form 990, document eligibility, use grants only for covered care, and account for unspent balances. Justice Department grant staff must run five annual rounds, review applications, reduce awards for carryover, and report outcomes to Congress. Federal grant accounts bear the award costs. Working-dog owners must rely on participating nonprofits rather than receiving direct federal payments.
Key Provisions
- Establishes a Justice Department grant program for five fiscal years.
- Limits each nonprofit award to $575,000.
- Requires an eligible nonprofit to focus primarily on qualified working dogs.
- Requires at least 70 percent of nonprofit spending to support covered medical expenses.
- Requires separate veterinary-expense disclosure on IRS Form 990.
- Restricts grant use to veterinary visits, procedures, tests, medications, and necessary supplements.
- Reduces later awards by unspent prior-year grant balances.
- Requires congressional reporting on dogs assisted and average medical expenses.
Evidence Chain:
This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
At a Glance
What This Bill Does
Creates a five-year Justice Department grant program, with awards capped at $575,000, for eligible nonprofits to pay medical expenses of retired federal working dogs and service dogs used by veterans or retired federal law-enforcement officers.
Key Policy Areas
Federal Grants, Veterans, Law Enforcement, Military Working Dogs, Veterinary Care, Nonprofit Oversight
Primary Purpose
Creates a five-year Justice Department grant program, with awards capped at $575,000, for eligible nonprofits to pay medical expenses of retired federal working dogs and service dogs used by veterans or retired federal law-enforcement officers.
Policy Domains
Sections 2 and 3 working-dog findings and medical grants
Identified Gains
- Owners of retired federal working dogs
- Veterans with service dogs
- Retired federal law-enforcement officers
- Working-dog care nonprofit organizations
- Veterinary clinics treating qualified dogs
- Veterinary diagnostic laboratories
Identified Costs
- Working-dog nonprofit grant applicants
- Justice Department grant administrators
- Nonprofit Form 990 reporting staff
- Federal working-dog grant accounts
- Congressional grant-oversight staff
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
In CommitteeReferred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition …
Introduced in House
Mr. James introduced the following bill; which was referred to …
Stakeholder Effects
cui bono?How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.
Owners of retired federal working dogs, Veterinary clinics treating qualified dogs
Nonprofit Form 990 reporting staff, Working-dog care nonprofit organizations, Working-dog nonprofit grant applicants
Federal working-dog handlers, Retired federal law-enforcement officers
Federal working-dog grant accounts, Justice Department grant administrators
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
- "attorney_general"
- → Attorney General
- "eligible_nonprofit"
- → Nonprofit organization meeting the working-dog care, owner-assistance, spending, and Form 990 requirements
- "qualified_working_dog"
- → Covered retired federal working dog or qualifying service dog
Key Definitions
Terms defined in this bill
A nonprofit focused on qualified working dogs that assists owners, spends at least 70 percent on covered program expenses, and separately reports veterinary costs on Form 990.
Veterinary visits, medical procedures, diagnostic tests, medications, medically necessary supplements, and other treatment or care expenses for qualified working dogs.
A retired dog used by the federal government for military, security, or law-enforcement work, or a service dog working for a veteran or retired federal law-enforcement officer.
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology