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The Animal Welfare Act is a law passed by government to protect the welfare of animals. Image File history File links Broom_icon. ...
For more than a quarter of this century, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has enforced the Animal Welfare Act (AWA) to protect certain animals from inhumane treatment and neglect. Congress passed the AWA in 1966 and strengthened the law through amendments in 1970, 1976, 1985, and 1990. The USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) administers the AWA, its standards, and its regulations The U.S. Department of Agriculture, also called the Agriculture Department, or USDA, is a Cabinet department of the United States Federal Government. ...
New Zealand
In New Zealand the Animal Welfare Act was passed in 1999 . It supersedes the Animal Protection Act 1960 and gives a wider definition to what is classed as an animal.
United States In the United States it was first adopted in 1966 as a result of mounting public concern about animal research, and amended in 1970, 1976, 1985, and 1990, is a federal law in the United States providing basic provisions for the handling, treatment, and transportation of some animals in certain situations: laboratory animals, zoos, circuses, puppy mills, animal transporters, and animal exhibitors. The Act has always excluded cold-blooded animals, mice, rats, birds, livestock or other farm animals, or horses (except horses used for research). 1970 (MCMLXX) was a common year starting on Thursday. ...
Year 1976 (MCMLXXVI) was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar) of the 1976 Gregorian calendar. ...
Year 1985 (MCMLXXXV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link displays 1985 Gregorian calendar). ...
Year 1990 (MCMXC) was a common year starting on Monday (link displays the 1990 Gregorian calendar). ...
The data suggest that use of laboratory animals allowed to add 28 years of life to an average human. ...
Giraffes in Sydneys Taronga Zoo A zoological garden, zoological park, or zoo is a facility in which animals are confined within enclosures and displayed to the public, and in which they may also be bred. ...
The Big Top of Billy Smarts Circus Cambridge 2004. ...
Puppy mills (known as puppy farms in the UK and Australia) are dog breeding operations that are considered by some to be disreputable and sometimes hazardous to the health of the animals due to the conditions of the breeding kennel. ...
Mice may refer to: An abbreviation of Meetings, Incentives, Conferencing, Exhibitions. ...
This is an article about wild rats; for pet rats, see Fancy rat Species 50 species; see text *Several subfamilies of Muroids include animals called rats. ...
For other meanings of bird, see bird (disambiguation). ...
Sheep are commonly bred as livestock. ...
Binomial name Equus caballus Linnaeus, 1758 The horse (Equus caballus, sometimes seen as a subspecies of the Wild Horse, Equus ferus caballus) is a large odd-toed ungulate mammal, one of ten modern species of the genus Equus. ...
This act is enforced by a division of the United States Department of Agriculture known as the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS). indeed Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) is an operating unit of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). ...
External links The Animal Welfare Act (in USA) is the federal law that governs the humane care, handling, treatment and transportation of some animals in certain situations: animals in laboratories, dealers who sell animals to laboratories, animal exhibitors, carriers and intermediate handlers, dog and cat breeders, puppy mills, zoos, circuses, roadside menageries and transporters of animals. Excluded from the act are the following: retail pet stores, state and county fairs, livestock shows, rodeos, purebred dog and cat shows and "fairs and exhibitions intended to advance agricultural arts and sciences." The United States Department of Agriculture (also called the Agriculture Department, or USDA) is a United States Federal Executive Department (or Cabinet Department). ...
Enforcement of the act is the responsibility of a division of the United States Department of Agriculture known as APHIS (Animal and Plant Inspection Service). There are currently two regions of APHIS, AC. Eastern Region: Raleigh, North Carolina and Western Region: Fort Collins, Colorado. Each sector has inspectors who are supposed to inspect, unannounced, the various types of facilities covered by the act. All 50 states, along with Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico, are divided into just two regions which has been implemented as a money saving measure.
The USDA interprets the act to currently exclude birds, all cold-blooded animals (e.g., reptiles), and horses and other farm animals such as cows and pigs, used or intended for use as food or fiber. Horses and other farm animals are covered if they are used in experiments, but equine animals are specifically denied coverage if they are used in entertainment events. There are no regulations that govern the conduct of an experiment or what the animals will be forced to endure during an experiment.
The Animal Welfare Act gives the animals only minimum protection for handling, care, housing, treatment, ventilation, lighting, shelter, veterinary care and separation by species. The minimum standards mean that the animals' cage size needs to provide them only the ability to turn around. The act states further that sticks with hooks are appropriate to use to handle elephants. Also, minimum standards are based on the discretion of the USDA inspector.
Strong opposition from animal breeders, pharmaceutical companies, exhibitors and experimenters themselves, as well as USDA's commitment to "serve and protect" the nation's agricultural interests has resulted in poor enforcement of the Act. In recent years USDA has discontinued posting E-FOIA summaries of inspection report on their Web site and no longer discloses the number of animals housed at a particular facility. Also, current inspection policies allow licensees to operate indefinitely with documented violations of Animal Welfare regulations or standards. In rare instances where USDA authorities seek to prosecute for Animal Welfare violations, Administrative Judges routinely impose fines and/or penalties at a fraction of the level authorized by statutes.
What Can I Do 1. Get a copy of the Animal Welfare Act by calling the United States Department of Agriculture at (301) 734-7833. It is also a good idea to familiarize yourself with the laws concerning animals, policies on the use of animals from pounds (pounds' seizure laws) and local anti-cruelty statutes. Local and state laws can be found in your public library or in a law library. Check with your local animal control department or animal shelter for a copy of the state's anti-cruelty statute.
2. Keep a copy of the Animal Welfare Act and any local ordinances affecting animals handy when a circus, performing animal act or other animal exhibition is in your area. Call the USDA in your area if you see any violations and make a formal complaint. Follow-up your phone calls with a letter and any documentation that you have (photos, videos, etc.). Some things to look for: Public safety issues -- are the animals and the public in too close contact? Animal welfare issues -- are any of the animals limping?
3. Write to your congressional representatives, and ask them to support any pending or future legislation that will increase funding and/or strengthen the USDA's ability to enforce the Animal Welfare Act.
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