Federal lawmakers reintroduce BARK Act to aid shelter animals, protect donors

Published 8:15 am Saturday, June 21, 2025

In 2023, U.S. Reps. Young Kim (CA-40), Jamie Raskin (MD-08), Dave Joyce (OH-14) and Lucy McBath (GA-07) introduced the Bring Animals Relief and Kibble (BARK) Act to boost pet food and supplies to animal shelters amid growing shortages. A champion bill was introduced at the time  in the Senate by Sens. Raphael Warnock (D-GA) and Tom Tillis (R-NC).

Despite bipartisan support for the legislation, the bill did not come to a vote before the session ended in January of this year.

However, Raskin introduced a new bill, H.R.3732 titled the “BARK Act of 2025”, in the 119th Congress on June 4, and the legislation has been ​​referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary. Also on June 4, Warnock introduced a matching champion bill, S.1939 – BARK Act of 2025, which was referred to the Senate Committee on the Judiciary,

Similar to the 2023 BARK Act resolutions, this legislation aims to provide civil and criminal liability protections for the donation of pet food and supplies, specifically under the Bill Emerson Good Samaritan Food Donation Act.

The bipartisan BARK Act aims to end food shortages facing animal shelters and reduce the millions of pounds of wasted pet food and supplies sitting in landfills by providing  civil and criminal liability protections to businesses that provide charitable donations of food and pet supplies to shelters.

“Many animal shelters face food and supply shortages while over a million pounds of useable pet supplies are wasted each year. The BARK Act will help reduce this waste, supply shelters in need, and feed animals,” said Kim.

“Today, some animal shelters struggle to buy enough pet food for all the animals in their care—while many pet stores routinely throw away perfectly good pet food,”. Raskin said. “The BARK Act makes a straightforward fix to the law governing food donation to make donating pet food as easy as donating people food. The BARK Act is a commonsense, bipartisan opportunity to help shelter animals and reduce waste.”

“As a pet owner and fellow animal lover, I understand how important pets are to our families. After the death of my son, Jordan, I found solace in my relationship with the beloved dog he left behind, Benji,” McBath said after the introduction of the 2023 legislation. “I am proud to join my colleagues once again to introduce this bipartisan bill. The BARK Act will eliminate barriers and reduce waste while directing surplus pet food to shelters in need to nurture America’s animals as they await adoption to their forever homes.”