The usda passed the animal welfare act (awa), and congress created regulations to enforce it.
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Description Show Passed by Congress in 1966, the Animal Welfare Act (AWA) sets general standards for humane care and treatment that must be provided for certain animals that are bred for commercial sale, sold sight unseen (Internet sales), exhibited to the public, used in biomedical research, or transported commercially. The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has published the Animal Welfare Act and Animal Welfare Regulations, known as the “Blue Book,” as a tool to improve compliance among our licensees and registrants and to enhance the consistency of inspections by our field inspectors. The Blue Book consolidates into one source the AWA and the applicable regulations and standards. Audience These regulations must be followed by those responsible for the care and handling of animals, including farmers. In addition, animal activists, lawyers, and USDA employees may be interested in these regulations. The following is a guest post by Annie Ross, an intern with the Digital Resources Division of the Law Library of Congress. She is a current student of political science and international studies at Northwestern University. On August 24th, 1966, the first federal act to regulate animal welfare in research was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson. Originally targeting the problem of pet theft for research purposes, the Animal Welfare Act (AWA) has been expanded over the years to become one of the most wide-reaching federal animal rights laws, ensuring the humane treatment of millions of animals in the U.S. Cats. Harris & Ewing, photographer, 1934 or 1935. Library of Congress, Prints and Photograph Division. //hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/hec.38033 Background The AWA, which was originally referred to as the Laboratory Animal Welfare Act of 1966, Pub. L. No. 89-544, was by no means the first act passed by the federal government concerned with animal welfare. The laws that preceded the 1966 law, however, focused primarily on livestock or wild animals, while there was little national regulation about animals used for companionship, entertainment, and research purposes. Although a patchwork of state laws against animal cruelty existed at this time, the exploitation and mistreatment of these animals was not uncommon before the AWA. Two groundbreaking articles centered public attention on animal cruelty by highlighting the inhumane conditions within dog dealer facilities, particularly those selling to researchers. A 1965 Sports Illustrated article covered the sad case of Pepper, a healthy pet Dalmatian who was stolen from her home and sold to a research facility that used and eventually euthanized her. Life magazine followed a few months later with a similar article titled “Concentration Camps for Dogs,” (vol. 60, no. 5, Feb. 4, 1966) providing explicit details and photos of animal mistreatment occurring at dog dealer facilities. The Laboratory Animal Welfare Act was passed within a year of these two articles. Legislation It is no surprise that the priority of the 1966 AWA was to ensure that the procurement of animals for research was done humanely, leaving the research process itself relatively untouched. To regulate animal sales and acquisition at research facilities, the federal statute gave the Secretary of Agriculture the authority to license animal dealers and researchers and prohibit government-funded research facilities from acquiring animals outside of the licensed dealers. The act applied to select groups of animals and people. Only research facilities that received government funding and/or acquired their cats or dogs via interstate transportation had to register with the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), and the license requirement for animal exhibitors (zoos, circuses) did not come until a 1970 amendment was signed into law by President Nixon. Additionally, the 1966 act’s definition of “animal” was narrow, limited to dogs, cats, monkeys, guinea pigs, hamsters, and rabbits. This definition was expanded in the 1970 amendments to include all warm-blooded animals (excluding livestock) (§ 3).  President Nixon w/ new dog, White House. Warren K. Leffler, photographer, 1969. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division. //hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ppmsca.56674 Key provisions in later amendments include the mandated use of anesthetics for animals in experiments (as long as the drug does not interfere with the research process) (§ 14), the prohibition against knowingly transporting or using animals for fighting ventures (§ 17), and the explicit exclusion of birds, rats, and mice from the definition of animal (§ 10301), thereby excluding these species from the protections granted to animals in research by the AWA. In total, the AWA has been amended eight times in the past 55 years, and most of these amendments have greatly expanded its jurisdiction. Elephant at zoo. 1926. Library of Congress, Prints and Photograph Division. //hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/npcc.16145 Enforcement The AWA is enforced under the Animal Care program of the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS). Inspections of facilities that utilize or exhibit animals are carried out regularly. Warning notices, fines, or more severe consequences such as license revocation or prosecution may be issued by the APHIS if noncompliance is observed. In light of recent statistics indicating lower numbers of warnings and cases initiated by the APHIS than in previous years, there has been pressure by prominent animal welfare organizations to improve the enforcement of the Animal Welfare Act. A bill addressing this measure titled “Animal Welfare Enforcement Improvement Act” was introduced to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2019, but not enacted. A Timeline of the Animal Welfare Act and its Amendments:
Additional Resources on Animal Welfare Laws:
Subscribe to In Custodia Legis – it’s free! – to receive interesting posts drawn from the Law Library of Congress’s vast collections and our staff’s expertise in U.S., foreign, and international law. What is the purpose of the AWA?Current Law and Regulations
The Animal Welfare Act (AWA) requires that minimum standards of care and treatment be provided for certain animals bred for commercial sale; used in research, teaching, or testing; transported commercially; or exhibited to the public.
Who created the animal welfare regulations?WHO CREATED THE ANIMAL WELFARE ACT? The original Animal Welfare Act was signed in 1966 by President Lyndon B. Johnson, although a precursor bill, H.R 9743, was introduced the previous year by New York Representative Joseph Resnick.
What federal agency is responsible for enforcing and administering the Animal Welfare regulations?USDA Animal Care, a unit within the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, administers the Animal Welfare Act (AWA).
What are two principal animal research regulatory documents used by the Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare?The PHS Policy and the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Animal Welfare Regulations 2, are the two principal federal documents that set forth requirements for animal care and use by institutions using animals in research, testing, and education.
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