The defense bill that President Donald Trump signed into law puts an end to many military experiments on cats and dogs and declares a ceasefire to shooting animals in “trauma” exercises. The 2026 National Defense Authorization Act, enacted Dec. 18, includes a provision that bans the Defense Department from continuing to conduct and sponsor “painful research” on domestic cats and dogs as live test subjects.
The bill also orders the Defense Department to ensure that it will not engage in “live-fire trauma training” that targets dogs, cats, nonhuman primates and marine mammals. Supporters said the bill ends exercises that involved shooting, critically wounding and killing goats and pigs to help educate medics in treating combat injuries. The legislation directs the military to use technologically advanced human simulators instead.
The shift is part of a government-wide effort to phase out the use of live animals in federally sponsored tests, studies and training, with pressure growing from the Trump administration, Congress and animal welfare groups to end the practice. The Navy in May implemented a total ban on experiments using cats and dogs. The Department of Veterans Affairs is phasing out research on cats, dogs and non-human primates.
The defense secretary can make exceptions in the interests of national security. Exemptions also may be made for training and studies related to military or service animals. Lawmakers from both parties welcomed the restrictions on live-animal tests and trainings in the 2026 defense bill. “It is indefensible to waste tax dollars designed to boost our national security on cruel and pointless experiments on cats and dogs,” said Sen. Jodi Ernst, R-Iowa, a retired lieutenant colonel in the Army National Guard.
“Research and testing methods involving dogs and cats are outdated. We must adopt more scientific approaches to improve lives,” said Rep. Don Davis, D-N.C., a former first lieutenant in the Air Force. The military, for example, increasingly uses technologically advanced human simulators that physicians say better prepare medics for battlefield injuries. New restrictions on using domestic cats and dogs in military studies target research that is “painful” but does not end all experiments. Defunded are animal experiments that cause significant and unrelieved pain and distress, under criteria set by the Agriculture Department. “Our investigation has identified at least 10 active military contracts worth roughly $29 million that are funding painful experiments on dogs and cats in laboratories around the world.
These projects — and any others now or in the future — are prohibited from spending taxpayer dollars for painful tests on cats and dogs,” said Justin Goodman, senior vice president for advocacy and public policy at White Coat Waste Project, a nonprofit that works to end animal testing by federal agencies. The bill’s language banning the military from conducting live-fire trauma tests on animals identifies dogs, cats, nonhuman primates and marine mammals.
But advocates say the prohibition applies to all animals. The defense secretary is directed to use alternatives that include advanced simulators, mannequins and cadavers. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, which advocated for the ban, said it has worked for years to replace animals in trauma training with “superior human-relevant simulators.” Live-fire trauma tests using animals have been banned in full by the Coast Guard and greatly reduced by the other armed forces, said Shalin Gala, PETA vice president. “But pigs and goats are still used for this training. With the passage of the NDAA, for the first time no live animals, including goats and pigs, will be shot for trauma training in 2026,” Gala said.
Reporter:
Linda F. Hersey is based in Washington, D.C., and reports on veterans. She previously covered the Navy and Marine Corps at Inside Washington Publishers. She also was a government reporter at the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner in Alaska,
