KENTON COUNTY, Ky. — A piece of legislation created in 1938 that mandates animal toxicity testing has been on Republican Sen. Rand Paul's mind as he considers the issue of animal welfare.

“When they told me it was a mandate I thought, 'Wow this is a good chance of getting rid of a mandate and trying to make things better,'” Paul said.

Together, he and Democratic senator Cory Booker worked on the FDA Modernization Act — something that could potentially end the mandate.

“It really doesn’t eliminate research, it just says there can be an option of not using it if we can figure out a way [to avoid] using animals,” Paul said.

While hanging out with some of the furry friends at Kenton County Animal Services, Paul said this piece of legislation could prevent injuries and even death in animals.

“We did a similar press conference in Washington, but we really wanted to talk about the idea and the issue in Kentucky and there needs to be some times when we have things we don’t have everybody fighting about. This is something I think could bring people together,” Paul said.

Kenton County Animal Services said that it’s a no kill shelter. Kenton County Judge/Executive Kris Knochelmann said in a statement in part that Paul's goal with the legislation lines up with what they're trying to do in Kenton County: keep animals safe.

“Sen. Paul can speak more eloquently on this subject than I can, but his efforts are clearly in sync with our work here in Kenton County to more humanly treat animals whenever and wherever possible," Knochelmann said.

Though no vote has been made yet, Paul said there’s support coming out of both parties.

“This one has bipartisan support and we actually have hope that it may be will one of those we can pass unanimously,” Paul said.