Years of Service: 2013–Present
Tenure: 113th – 119th Congresses
Angus King, an Independent who caucuses with Democrats, has built a pragmatic and regionally grounded record on animal welfare since taking office in 2013. His approach is shaped heavily by Maine’s rural economy, coastal fisheries, and small-scale agriculture, leading him to prioritize targeted, bipartisan solutions that balance animal protection with local economic realities. As a result, his record reflects meaningful but selective engagement rather than consistent leadership on national animal-protection priorities.
King’s most notable contributions have come in areas where animal welfare intersects with public health and rural infrastructure. He co-led passage of the Veterinary Medicine Mobility Act, expanding access to care in underserved rural areas by allowing mobile veterinarians to transport and administer controlled substances. He has continued this focus through federal funding for rural veterinary services, aimed at addressing shortages and improving care for livestock and companion animals alike.
On marine wildlife, King has played a central role in shaping federal policy affecting the North Atlantic right whale and Maine’s lobster industry. He has consistently advocated for a science-based balance, pushing back on federal regulations he views as insufficiently supported by evidence linking Maine’s lobster fishery to whale mortality. At the same time, he has supported investment in whale-safe technologies and research, securing funding for monitoring, disentanglement efforts, and gear innovation. His work in this area reflects an effort to reconcile conservation goals with the economic viability of coastal communities.
King has also supported efforts to reduce animal use in research. He cosponsored the FDA Modernization Act 2.0, which removed federal animal-testing mandates in drug development, and later co-introduced FDA Modernization Act 3.0 to expand alternatives. These initiatives align with both public health goals and Maine’s growing biotechnology sector.
On farm animal policy, King has shown a willingness to defend state-level standards against federal preemption. He signed a bipartisan letter opposing the EATS Act, helping protect Maine’s own restrictions on extreme confinement practices. At the same time, his support for the PRIME Act – loosening federal inspection requirements for small-scale meat processing – illustrates his tendency to prioritize rural economic flexibility, even where it raises concerns about regulatory consistency.
King has also engaged on companion animal issues, introducing the Homeward Bound Act to ease the return of service animals for military families and cosponsoring Goldie’s Act to strengthen enforcement against abusive breeding operations.
Across these areas, King’s record is defined by targeted, bipartisan interventions rather than broad-based leadership. He has delivered tangible outcomes – particularly in rural veterinary access, research reform, and marine conservation – while remaining cautious about policies that could disrupt Maine’s core industries. His legislative profile reflects a lawmaker responsive to the intersection of animal welfare, public health, and local economic sustainability, but not one who consistently drives the national animal-protection agenda.
Notable Actions
119th Congress
✅ Lead Sponsor of the FDA Modernization Act 3.0 (S. 355), landmark bipartisan legislation requiring the Food and Drug Administration to update its regulations within 12 months to replace outdated “animal test” mandates with validated “nonclinical” testing methods. Upon introducing the bill, King noted, “Maine people deserve a modern FDA… The FDA Modernization Act 3.0 will ensure that the American people have access to more reliable treatments, with renewed confidence in their governmental agencies.” The bill successfully passed the Senate in December 2025.
✅ Opposed the “Save Our Bacon Act”/EATS Act provisions in the Farm Bill discussions, standing with animal welfare groups to protect local laws against intensive farm animal confinement and upholding the rights of states to ban the sale of products derived from extreme animal cruelty. In July 2O25, he cosigned a letter with 31 other Senate Democrats to Senate Agriculture Committee leadership urging them to exclude this legislation from being added to the Farm Bill.
❌ Voted “Nay” on the motion to proceed to S.J.Res. 69 (Senate Roll Call Vote 597), a resolution under the Congressional Review Act to bring a measure before the Senate to overturn the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Barred Owl Management Strategy to kill 450,000 barred owls in Washington, Oregon, and California. A “Nay” vote is the anti-animal position because it opposed moving forward with a vote to repeal the barred owl kill plan.
118th Congress
✅ Lead Sponsor of the Homeward Bound Act, introduced alongside Senator Kevin Cramer to amend a restrictive Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) dog importation rule. The bill provided a 18-month waiver for service animals, military pets, and diplomatic families returning from low-risk rabies countries.
✅ Signed Bipartisan Joint Letter urging the CDC to immediately pause and revise its flawed border regulations for dogs to prevent detrimental consequences for pet owners and animal transport networks.
✅ Cosponsored the Prevent All Soring Tactics (PAST) Act, legislation aimed at strengthening the Horse Protection Act by eliminating industry self-policing and banning the cruel use of action devices, weighted shoes, and caustic chemicals intended to inflict pain on walking horses to force an exaggerated gait.
117th Congress
✅ Voted “Aye” on the enactment of the FDA Modernization Act 2.0 (passed via the standard end-of-year consolidated appropriations), which successfully eliminated a 1938 statutory mandate requiring animal testing for all new drug developments, paving the way for advanced alternative testing methodologies.
116th Congress
✅ Approved by unanimous consent the Preventing Animal Cruelty and Torture (PACT) Act to establish a national anti-cruelty. The Senate passed the bill by unanimous consent.
115th Congress
❌ Voted “Aye” on H.J.Res. 69, a Congressional Review Act (Senate Roll Call Vote 92) resolution to overturn an Obama administration rule prohibiting killing bear cubs and wolf pups in their dens, baiting bears with food to shoot them at close range, and aerial shooting of wolves and other predators. An “Aye” vote is the anti-animal position because it repealed the rule protecting wildlife from these inhumane and unsporting predator-killing practices on national wildlife refuges in Alaska.
113th Congress
✅ Lead Sponsor of the Veterinary Medicine Mobility Act, which was successfully passed by Congress and signed into law by President Obama. This critical piece of legislation amended the Controlled Substances Act to legally permit mobile veterinarians to transport and dispense vital medications across state lines and in the field. The law fundamentally improved animal protection field operations, allowing rescue organizations to perform on-scene emergency care during large-scale animal abuse interventions, animal fighting busts, and natural disaster relief efforts.