State Rep. Ina Minjarez wants to make sure retired research animals can be adopted after the research involving them has ended.

Minjarez, D-San Antonio, filed House Bill 2490, calling on research facilities to offer up for adoption any healthy retired cats or dogs they were otherwise planning on euthanizing.

“This legislation represents a second chance for hundreds of dogs and cats currently in laboratories in Texas,” said Marcia Kramer, director of legal and legislative programs for the National Anti-Vivisection Society.

In 2015, more than 19,000 cats and 61,000 dogs — including more than 1,600 in Texas — were used in research, testing and teaching, U.S. Department of Agriculture reports show.

“Too often, animals used in research are regarded as disposable commodities, euthanized and discarded when they’re no longer ‘needed,’ instead of having a chance to live outside the laboratory,” Kramer said. “These animals deserve better.”