After helping to reunite former Army TEDD handler Joe Steenbeke with his Belgian Malinois MWD Tess in February 2019, US Rep. Jackie Walorski (R-Ind.) continued her work on our behalf! In May 2019, she introduced a House resolution recognizing the service and sacrifice of military working dogs and their handlers who served in the U.S. Army’s Tactical Explosive Detection Dog (TEDD) program. H.Con.Res. 43 encourages government agencies and military services to prioritize former handlers when a former military working dog becomes available for adoption. This Resolution became an Amendment now part of the H.R.2500’s National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020. Sec. 353 (pages 264-265) lists amendments to the transfer and adoption of military animals, and then go to Sec. 1099S (pages 1109-1116) for the section on the TEDD program. This version was approved by the House of Representatives.

Sec. 354 of the Senate’s S.1790 National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020 (page 141-145) lists expansion, enhancement and amendments for the transfer and adoption of military animals, veterinary screening and care for military working dogs to be retired, and contract terms for contract working dogs.

As the House’s version is fairly controversial, it’s unclear if it will pass the Senate. There will likely have to be a compromise bill between the House and Senate.

We will update this page when we know more.