Today, Humane World Action Fund (formerly the Humane Society Legislative Fund) released the 2025 Nevada Humane Scorecard— the first of its kind issued in the state by the organization. We encourage Nevadans to review their representatives’ scores and take action to support elected officials who pushed three pro-animal bills over the finish line this session.

In 2025, three bills passed through both chambers of the state legislature and became law. SB 166 will expand the existing breed restriction prohibitions in insurance to include multi-family dwellings, AB 381 will create tougher punishments for animal cruelty, and AB 136 will publicize channels for filing complaints concerning animal welfare concerns at paid animal interactions.

These wins are only possible when we band together to elect humane candidates who pass animal protection laws. Our electoral choices can make Nevada a powerhouse for animal protection

Using the scorecard

This 2025 Nevada Humane Scorecard includes the following bills:

• Cindy Lou’s Law (AB 487): A ✓ indicates the member voted in favor of the bill as introduced in the state assembly. In its original iteration, Cindy Lou's Law proposed to eliminate the sale of dogs and cats in retail pet stores, thus ending the cruel puppy mill-to-pet store pipeline in Nevada. The senate version is not included in the scorecard as the committee amendment gutted the original provisions, calling instead for a study of the sale of dogs and cats by retail pet stores. AB 487 is a committee bill sponsored by the Assembly Committee on Natural Resources.
• Pets in Housing (SB 166): A ✓ indicates the member voted in favor of SB 166, a bill to remove breed bans from insurance policies carried by commercial properties. The bill also requires certain types of subsidized housing to allow tenants to have at least one pet. This builds on an existing law that prohibits breed restrictions in private homeowners insurance and expands it to commercial properties such as apartment complexes. Sponsored by Sen. Melanie Schieble (D-9).
• Reba’s Law (AB 381): A ✓ indicates the member voted for this law, which increases penalties for certain types of animal crimes, revises the process to seize and care for animals treated cruelly, creates tougher punishments for harming or killing police dogs, and provides civil immunity for aiding an animal trapped in a hot car under certain circumstances. Sponsored by Asm. Melissa Hardy (R-22), Asm. Brian Hibbetts (R-13), Asm. Elaine Marzola (D-21), Asm. Brittney Miller (D-5), and Sen. Melanie Scheible (D-9).
• Animal Welfare Concerns Signage (AB 136): A ✓ indicates a vote in favor of AB 136. The bill requires certain businesses offering paid animal interactions to post a publicly visible sign informing patrons who have concerns about the welfare of animals at such facilities about channels through which they can report a complaint. Sponsored by Asm. Venicia Considine (D-18).

About our methodology

Humane World Action Fund acknowledges the limitations of judging legislators based simply on a few votes on animal issues, however important those issues are. In some cases, legislators must miss votes for unavoidable reasons, such as a death in the family, serious illness, the birth of a child or an emergency in their district. On other occasions, they might take the view that a well-intentioned bill includes problematic language or has unintended legal consequences and decline to support it.

There are many other reasons why a legislator might vote a certain way — and sometimes not the way you would like. That’s all the more incentive to engage with elected officials directly and ask them about their positions on various animal issues.

Finally, in assessing the record of your legislators, and your strategy for engaging them in the future, do consider unrecorded matters such as relevant committee participation and performance, House or Senate leadership posts, constituent engagement and responsiveness, and their votes on other animal protection bills not included in this scorecard.

The full 2025 Nevada Humane Scorecard is online along with other scorecards at humaneaction.org/state-scorecards.

We count our wins this year, but there is still more to be done as we work toward the end of cruelty to all animals. Review the scorecard, contact your state legislators, and turn out in the next election to send humane candidates to Carson City. And please, share this scorecard with family, friends, and fellow advocates to help spread the word!

Animals win when humane candidates do—and that’s up to us. Please use the power of your vote to ensure animals win at the ballot box on Election Day.