Interim study looks at Oklahoma law requiring pounds to surrender unclaimed pets for medical testing

OKLAHOMA CITY – Sen. Nikki Nice, D-Oklahoma City, held an interim study examining a state law that can force local pounds to surrender dogs and cats for animal testing. Oklahoma is the last state in the nation to still have such a law on the books. Expert testimony was presented to the Local and County Government Committee by representatives from the Humane World for Animals, Tulsa Animal Services, Rise for Animals, the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food, and Forestry, and the Beagle Freedom Project.

Nice said the study, held Wednesday at the state Capitol, pointed to the need to repeal the statute.

“We learned that after World War II, there was a resurgence in biomedical research and product testing on animals, so those labs lobbied for laws that required pounds to surrender pets,” Nice said. “In 1951, Oklahoma approved mandatory pound seizure, but in 2026, we’re the only state to still have such a law on the books. It really hasn’t happened in recent years, but people are outraged when they learn we have a statute that could still force a pound to turn over pets for medical testing. It’s time to repeal that law.”

Legislators heard that at the federal level, there is increasing bipartisan opposition to animal testing, which can cause pain, injury, and death. Presenters testified that animal testing is not the best way to predict outcomes in people, and that new technologies produce better results. Shannon Keith, president and founder of the Beagle Freedom Project, testified that seizure laws to supply animals for testing undermine public trust in shelters, discourage adoptions, and put vulnerable animals at risk.

“Like many Oklahomans, I’ve always considered my pets part of the family – I can’t imagine if they’d gotten lost and never seeing them again because the shelter was forced to hand them over for animal testing,” Nice said. “I want to thank Sen. Warren Hamilton, chair of the Senate’s Local and County Government Committee, for agreeing to hear this interim study, and I look forward to working with my fellow members in the Legislature in the coming session to repeal Oklahoma’s mandatory pound seizure law.”

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For more information, contact:  Sen. Nikki Nice at 405-521-5531 or Nikki.Nice@oksenate.gov