How the Government Shutdown Impacts Animals

Programs protecting humans and non-human animals alike are both harmfully effected during the shutdown

10/24/2025

On September 30, funding for the federal government and its agencies expired. When the Republican-controlled Congress failed to agree on and pass legislation that would fund it moving forward, the federal government shut down on October 1. The last time a federal government shutdown occurred was in 2018, during President Trump’s first term in office. You have probably heard that the shutdown has wide ranging consequences for federal workers and agencies as well as for U.S. residents, but another group is also impacted by the shutdown—animals.

Essential workers and nonessential workers and what it all means for animals

Essential workers have to continue working throughout the shutdown, but many of them do so without pay. While pay is usually retroactively compensated when the government reopens, the Trump Administration has threatened that they may not provide back pay to employees, even though this violates the law. This administration is also telling federal agencies to use this shutdown as an opportunity to reduce their number of employees, making it even more difficult for agencies to carry out their work and enforce regulations under the Animal Welfare Act (AWA) or the Endangered Species Act, among other important laws protecting animals. For example, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), which is the only federal agency assigned to enforce the AWA, was already struggling with not enough staff to carry out that responsibility after the Trump Administration reduced 15% of its workforce earlier this year. Now with the government shutdown, the conducting of all inspections under the USDA has stopped.

Three cows looking out from fence on factory farm

While some workers within programs and agencies that protect animals and/or regulate welfare policies are deemed essential, many others are considered nonessential. For instance, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) have been forced to suspend their work protecting National Wildlife Refuges and endangered species.

Below, you can find a list of which programs that impact animals will continue during the shutdown, and which programs will cease.

National Parks will remain open with law enforcement and emergency response workers; however, other maintenance workers are not deemed essential (see below).
The 60,000 wild horses that have been round up and held in facilities run by Bureau of Land Management will continue to be fed and cared for, while other roundups will thankfully, be stopped until the end of the shutdown.
Wildlife Trafficking inspections will continue throughout ports and customs.
Basic care of animals in research facilities run by the National Institutes of Health and Food and Drug Administration will continue; however, negotiations to shift away from animal testing will likely cease during the shutdown.

The Animal Welfare Act, which “regulates the treatment of animals in research, teaching, testing, exhibition, transport, and by dealers” will no longer run inspections of facilities during the shutdown. This will negatively impact animals in research facilities, zoos, circuses, horse shows, and puppy mills.
USFWS and NMFS suspend their work to protect endangered species and National Wildlife Refuges.
Restoration projects, which are making our coastal communities more resilient to extreme weather, are paused.
Bird Conservation research conducted by agencies such as the US Geological Survey has stopped.
Essential habitat and restoration projects, as well as endangered species protection projects, have been halted.
National Parks maintenance workers’ absence leads to lack of trash pickup or enforcement of rules, which can result in habitat destruction, vandalism, and harm to wildlife within the parks.
USDA functions such as payments, grants, and inspections put both animals and rural communities at risk. A coalition of agricultural groups have sent a letter to Congress, urging a quick end to the shutdown.

The way ahead

In order to end the government shutdown, the Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, a Republican from Louisiana, must first call the House into session. Negotiations cannot begin until lawmakers are called together (and the new elected Representative from Arizona, Democrat Adelita Grijalva, is sworn in).

Once our Congress is functioning again, they can pass bill S. 2431, to fund the Department of the Interior, which includes the U.S. FWS, National Park Service, U.S. Geological Survey, and more. This Senate bill passed out of committee at the end of July with bipartisan support, and it would continue to fund endangered species programs, including protections for grizzlies and gray wolves, for the next year. This Senate bill would be a much more animal-friendly funding option than the House’s proposed “Big Extinction Bill” (H.R. 4754), which would rollback regulation of air pollution, as well as protections for many endangered species and their habitats.

Protecting our country’s animals is one value that Americans hold in common, no matter their political affiliation. One poll showed that 84% of Americans support the Endangered Species Act, including 89% of Democrats polled and 80% of Republicans. For the sake of people, animals, and the environment, we encourage you to contact your Senators and Representative, and urge them to help Congress move forward with a compassionate and cooperative funding plan soon. soon.

You can look up your Congress members and find their contact information here.