Enactment of Pound Seizure Laws Nationally
The use of animals from pounds and shelters for experimentation has been a controversial issue since the late 1800s. During the World War II era, the use of animals in experiments began to boom. To meet researchers' demands for animals, many states enacted "pound seizure" statutes - laws that require pounds and shelters to release dogs and cats to laboratories. Minnesota, Wisconsin, and New York were among the first states to pass these laws. Although pound seizure statutes were enacted in the 1940s and 1950s, some of them still exist today. Many others have been repealed as a result of growing public pressure.

Enactment of Minnesota's Pound Seizure Law
Ironically, the original intent of Minnesota's pound seizure law was pet safety. Lawmakers believed that if the state required pounds to surrender unclaimed animals to laboratories, the dog and catnapping rings that stole family pets for sale to researchers would be forced out of business. Enacted in 1949, Minnesota's pound seizure law serves as a haunting reminder that the sale and purchase of dogs and cats used for experimentation remained wholly unregulated until enactment of the federal Animal Welfare Act in 1966.

News of a Twin Cities "dognapping" ring broke on December 17, 1939. Two St. Paul men uncovered the ring after a friend who knew the men's dogs were missing for three days disclosed to them he overheard a man boast he had stolen one of the men's dogs to "revenge a slight." The two men approached the house where the dogs were allegedly kept. Posing as dog buyers, the men saw the kennels, watched the house, witnessed a truck pull up and unload dogs, and then called police.

One of the dognappers arrested said the members of the ring had been selling dogs to the University of Minnesota for six years.

Al Schroeder, one of the men who helped capture the dognappers, never recovered his Chesapeake.

On December 21, 1939, the University of Minnesota's Pathology Department opened its doors to members of the public seeking their lost or stolen pets.

Of the 400 men, women, and children who showed up at Millard Hall at the University, only two were reunited with their pets.

In response to public criticism of its practice of obtaining dogs from private dealers, the University proposed pound seizure as part of a solution to the problem of pet theft. In a January 29, 1940 letter to faculty, Dean Ford wrote: "There are some things that would help clear up the fears of pet owners, and at the same time give protection to the University. In various cities it is the practice to turn over to universities or medical school dogs from city pounds that are unclaimed and unlicensed, and that otherwise would be destroyed."

Nine years later, on March 26, 1949, Governor Luther Youngdahl signed S.F. No. 834 into law:

A bill for an act to promote scientific research and instruction in animal and public health by making available to educational and scientific institutions, unclaimed and unredeemed animals impounded by public authority in animal pounds; to provide licenses therefor and penalties for violations thereof.

Efforts to End Pound Seizure
For as long as pound seizure laws have been in effect, animal protection groups across the country have lobbied against them. These groups believe that pounds and shelters should remain safe havens for pets and that pounds should not become suppliers of animals for experimentation.

Today seventeen states, the District of Columbia, every county in California, and hundreds of other local jurisdictions across the United States prohibit pound seizure. Several states have no law on pound seizure and other states allow, but do not require pound seizure. Minnesota and Oklahoma are the only states that still legally require that publicly funded pounds and shelters turn over unclaimed animals for experimental purposes. Click here for a state-by-state chart of pound seizure laws.