Minnesota Now Has an Option to Donate Your Pet’s Medication

Have you ever gotten a medication for your pet and then you ended up having left overs? Or maybe they had a bad reaction to it so they needed to switch medications?

We have a few different medications in a drawer right now that aren't being used but aren't expired. They're of no use to us anymore, but we also don't want to just throw them out.

An new law in Minnesota now gives us an option to donate unused and unexpired pet medications so then it can be used by a pet in need. Here's how you can donate any of your pet's unused meds.

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Donate Pet's Medication in Minnesota

The new law went into effect on July 1st, 2026.

MPR reports that Pamela Johnson, the executive director for the Minnesota Board of Veterinary Medicine, said that this donation option "will reduce medical costs by reissuing donated medications for free to pet owners and animals in need" and will "reduce veterinary drug waste since medication would have otherwise been discarded."

Only two other states have this option, Rhode Island and Nevada, and I'm really happy this law is now in place in Minnesota.

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WCCO writes that the "Board of Veterinary Medicine says it will be up to veterinarians, who are prescribing the donated medication, to ensure that the drugs are safe."

How to Donate Pet Medications in Minnesota

If you have pet medications that you'd like to donate, they need to be unused (from what I'm reading, it could be an opened bottle of pills but, obviously, not pills that have been spit out by your pet, for example), unexpired, and unaltered. 

Right now only pill forms of medication is accepted and that you should check with your veterinarian before bringing in medications to donate to make sure they will be accepted.

Veterinary practices, humane societies, and shelters are working on their own drug donation programs together. But, like I said, in the meantime, reach out to your veterinarian first.