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An Act To Provide for the Adoption of Cats and Dogs Previously Used for Research Purposes
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  7 MRSA c. 746  is enacted to read:
CHAPTER 746
RESEARCH ANIMAL RETIREMENT ACT
§ 4171. Short title
This Act may be known and cited as "the Research Animal Retirement Act."
§ 4172. Definitions
As used in this chapter, unless the context otherwise indicates, the following terms have the following meanings.
 
1.  Animal rescue organization.     "Animal rescue organization" means a nonprofit organization whose purpose is rescuing animals in need of care and finding permanent, adoptive homes for the animals.
 
2.  Animal shelter.     "Animal shelter" means a nonprofit organization that provides housing and care for animals, directly or through 3rd-party agreements, with the purpose of finding permanent homes for those animals through adoption.
 
3.  Private placement.     "Private placement" means an arrangement between a research facility and an individual seeking to adopt a retired animal.
 
4.  Research facility.     "Research facility" means a facility that conducts experiments on dogs or cats for science, testing, education or research purposes. "Research facility" includes a higher education research facility that receives funding from the State, including tax-exempt status, or a facility that provides research in collaboration with a higher education research facility,
 
5.  Retired animal.     "Retired animal" means a cat or dog that has been previously used for science, testing, education or research purposes and is no longer required by the research facility and has no substantial medical conditions preventing successful integration into a permanent, adoptive home.
§ 4173. Adoption of cats and dogs used in science, testing, education or research
 
1.  Retired animals.     A research facility or an employee or student of a research facility, unless euthanasia of a retired animal is required for health or safety reasons, shall:
 
A.  Offer the retired animal to an animal rescue organization or animal shelter for adoption; or
 
B.  Offer the retired animal for adoption through private placement.
 
2.  Agreement.     A research facility that offers a retired animal to an animal rescue organization or animal shelter under this section shall enter into an agreement with the animal rescue organization or animal shelter for the implementation of this section. A research facility that provides a retired animal to an animal rescue organization or animal shelter under this section is immune from any civil liability that otherwise might result from its actions, as long as the research facility is acting in good faith.
 
SUMMARY
This bill requires research facilities that receive public funding to offer for adoption cats and dogs used for science, testing, education or research purposes when the cats and dogs are no longer needed for those purposes instead of euthanizing them. Adoption of the cats and dogs may be through an animal shelter, animal rescue organization or private placement.