Bill > HR6716

This bill, known as the Save Animals Through Operational Shelters Act of 2025 or the SATOS Act of 2025, aims to address the lack of adequate animal care infrastructure in rural areas by establishing a program to provide grants and loans. The program, overseen by the Secretary of Agriculture, will offer financial assistance to eligible entities, which include government bodies at the state, local, or tribal level, as well as nonprofit corporations, to construct, expand, or renovate facilities such as animal shelters, adoption centers, veterinary clinics, spay and neuter clinics, animal control operations, or emergency animal shelters. Funding can also be used to purchase necessary equipment, furnishings, vehicles, or technology for these facilities. The bill specifies that the total grant amount for any fiscal year will not exceed $10,000,000, with the federal share of facility development costs capped at 75 percent, and a graduated scale will be used to provide a greater federal share to communities with lower populations or income levels. Additionally, the program will offer grants for technical assistance and training to help eligible entities plan, finance, and manage their facilities and applications. The Secretary is required to establish rules for the program within 180 days of enactment and begin providing grants and loans within one year, with regular reports on the program's progress and outcomes to be submitted to Congress. For the purposes of this bill, a "domestic animal" is defined as a pet not kept for commercial purposes, and a "rural area" is any area outside of cities with over 50,000 inhabitants and their adjacent urbanized areas.

Agriculture and Natural Resources

https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/6716/all-info