What the 2025 Government Shutdown Means for Animals

A temporary shutdown of the federal government began on October 1. When the federal government shuts down, federal money stops flowing and, according to the Congressional Budget Office, approximately 750,000 federal employees are furloughed. This means that many, but not all, government programs grind to a halt.

It is difficult to know exactly what the shutdown will mean for animals. The agencies most responsible for implementing our country’s animal welfare laws — the Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Department of the Interior — have published their updated contingency plans that indicate nearly half of their federal employees will be furloughed during the shutdown. Additionally, the White House announced that new layoffs will accompany a government shutdown. Still, from what we know about the last shutdown in 2019 and the agencies today, here are some examples of how animals are likely to be impacted by the shutdown.

USDA Inspections of Puppy Mills

The USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) is responsible for enforcing the Animal Welfare Act (AWA) at commercial facilities that breed, sell or exhibit animals, including puppy mills. During the shutdown, all routine inspections of AWA-licensed facilities have ceased. This means that hundreds of thousands of dogs across the country are living in commercial breeding facilities without any federal government oversight. When properly conducted, APHIS inspections of puppy mills ensure that bare minimum standards, such as access to water and food, are met. Past APHIS enforcement of the AWA has been notoriously weak. Animals deserve better, but they certainly won’t be protected while the government is closed for business. When USDA employees can’t do their jobs, puppy mills operate with zero accountability, and dogs will suffer.

Horse Soring

APHIS is also charged with enforcing the Horse Protection Act (HPA) to combat the abusive practice of soring — the use of painful chemicals and devices to inflict pain in horses to compel an exaggerated, high-stepping gait. APHIS oversees the inspection of at-risk show horses to ensure that they have not been sored and assesses penalties for violations. Enforcement of the HPA, however, ceases during a shutdown. We are concerned about whether there is sufficient enforcement of the HPA as is, and suspension of this program during the government shutdown could mean that unscrupulous trainers will take advantage of a lapse in oversight. 

Farm Animals at Slaughter

The USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) upholds the requirements of the Humane Methods of Slaughter Act related to the treatment of animals prior to and during slaughter. FSIS’s shutdown contingency plan does not specifically address continued enforcement of humane slaughter laws. But meat and poultry inspection operations, and most employees who support those activities, have been deemed essential, so we are hopeful that any humane handling violations are still being monitored and recorded during the shutdown as required by the Federal Meat and Poultry Inspection Acts. The plan warns, however, that states may run out of funds to perform meat and poultry inspections under cooperative agreements with the federal government.

The USDA Organic Program

In order to use the USDA Organic seal, meat, egg and dairy producers must follow production standards set by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. In 2023, at the urging of the ASPCA and other groups, the agency updated its regulations to include new animal welfare requirements, such as new space requirements for broiler chickens and egg laying hens, a prohibition on gestation and farrowing crates for mother pigs, and limits on certain painful mutilations like tail-docking. These requirements went into effect on Jan 2, 2025.

During a shutdown, all oversight of the program stops: inspections aren’t conducted, complaints of fraud or abuse can’t be investigated, and questions from farmers aren’t answered. This means that the federal government cannot ensure that animals are being treated as required under the new standards.

Wild Horses & Burros 

Two federal agencies — the Bureau of Land Management (part of the Interior Department) and the U.S. Forest Service (part of the USDA) — are responsible for managing herds of wild horses and burros that roam our public lands. The ongoing care of wild horses and burros who have been gathered from the range and held in corrals is considered an essential government function, so those animals are continuing to receive care during the government shutdown. However, the lapse in government funds means that the federal agencies will not initiate any new, planned gathers of wild horses and burros during this time, which also means related fertility control efforts would be put on pause.

Government Shutdowns Are Bad for Animals

The government agencies that help protect animals can’t enforce animal protection laws without funding. We urge President Trump and Congress to work quickly to restore funding to the government so our federal agencies can resume operating important programs aimed at protecting animals from cruelty.

If you have a question about the government shutdown or if you’d like to speak directly with our Legislative Engagement team about our work in this area, please email [email protected].