Section 1 Short title
This Act may be cited as the “Support Our Military Working Dogs Act”.
Support Our Military Working Dogs Act
A BILL
To amend title 10, United States Code, to improve veterinary care for retired military working dogs, and for other purposes.
Sec. 2 Department of Defense provision of veterinary care for retired military working dogs
In general— Section 994 of title 10, United States Code, is amended—
in subsection (a)—
by striking “establish and maintain a system to”;
by striking “for the veterinary care of” and inserting “veterinary care for”; and
by striking the second sentence;
in subsection (b), by inserting “that the Secretary of the military department concerned determines is suitable for adoption or is” before “adopted”; and
in subsection (c), by striking “the system authorized by”.
Multi-Year agreements with other entities— Such section is further amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:
“(d) Acceptance and use of donated funds
“(1) The Secretary of Defense may accept donations of funds, gifts, and in-kind contributions for the purpose of providing long-term care for any military working dog adopted under section 2583 of this title. Any amount so accepted shall be available without further appropriation and without fiscal year limitation.
“(2) The Secretary of Defense may enter into a multi-year agreement with a veterans service organization or appropriate nonprofit entity under which—
“(A) the organization or entity may solicit and accept donations of funds on behalf of the Department of Defense pursuant to paragraph (1); and
“(B) the organization or entity agrees to transfer any funds accepted pursuant to such an agreement to the Department of Defense.
“(3) In this subsection, the term “veterans service organization” means an organization recognized by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs for the representation of veterans under section 5902 of title 38.”
Sec. 3 Prohibition on charge for adoption of military animals
Section 2583(d) of title 10, United States Code, is amended by striking “may” and inserting “shall”.
Sec. 4 Clarification of research under Joint Trauma Education and Training Directorate and inclusion of military working dogs and veterinary care
In general— Subsection (b) of section 708 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017 (10 U.S.C. 1071 note) is amended—
in paragraph (7), by striking “of members of the Armed Forces” and inserting “with respect to members of the Armed Forces and military working dogs”; and
by striking paragraph (9) and inserting the following new paragraph:
“(9) To inform and advise the conduct of research on the leading causes of morbidity and mortality of members of the Armed Forces and military working dogs in combat.”
Veterinarians in personnel management plan— Subsection (d)(1) of such section is amended—
by redesignating subparagraph (F) as subparagraph (G); and
by inserting after subparagraph (E) the following new subparagraph:
“(F) Veterinary care.”