The Animal Welfare Act: What It Does and Who It Protects

Just over 50 years ago, the United States passed the Animal Welfare Act, the first piece of federal legislation establishing basic welfare standards for animals. While not perfect, the act remains an important piece of legislation to this day.

WHAT IS THE ANIMAL WELFARE ACT?

The Animal Welfare Act addresses the treatment of animals kept captive for research and exhibition purposes, and includes provisions for transporting animals for commercial purposes. The act is enforced by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Services (APHIS) departments. It also falls within the legislative jurisdiction of the Agriculture Committees of the House and Senate.

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The reality is that this law protects a small number of species.

The broad term “animal welfare” refers to the physical and mental state of an animal who is under human control in any context—whether as a pet in a household, a whale in an aquarium, or a cow on a factory farm. Although it might seem logical that the Animal Welfare Act would apply to all animals in captivity, the reality is that this law protects a small number of species.

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.

A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE ANIMAL WELFARE ACT

Animal welfare regulations are relatively new in Western societies. No laws were governing the use of animals in research until the late 1800s, with the passage of Britain’s Cruelty to Animals Act in 1876. Around this time, several states in the US passed various laws regarding animal cruelty in experimentation, but there was still a lack of federal legislation.

The Animal Welfare Act was the first national legislation designed to protect animal welfare, with an initial focus on laboratory animals and preventing the theft of pets to supply these facilities. Since then, numerous amendments have been made to the law, most of which expand upon its scope and focus.

The USDA provides a detailed history of the Animal Welfare Act, including a timeline of major amendments and some of the social conditions that prompted their creation.

1966 original law

The Animal Welfare Act, public law 89-544, was enacted on August 24, 1966. The bill was passed largely in response to growing public outcry about stolen pets being used to stock laboratories. One article published in 1965 detailed the tragic story of Pepper, a Dalmation who was stolen by an animal dealer and sold to a laboratory. Despite the family’s attempts to rescue the dog, Pepper was euthanized during an experiment.

The original Animal Welfare Act required that dog and cat dealers working with laboratories be licensed, in order to curb the theft of pets. The law also regulated the sale, transport, and handling of the following species being used in research:

• Dogs
• Cats
• Nonhuman primates
• Rabbits
• Guinea pigs
• Hamsters

The law had many limitations. Critics point out that the focus of the original law was more on regulating animals up until they arrived at laboratories, rather than addressing welfare concerns during experimentation. Under the original law, painkillers were not even required during an experiment.

1970 amendments

In response to the original law's obvious shortcomings, the 1970 amendments expanded the scope of the Animal Welfare Act to encompass all warm-blooded animals. The act also applied to any of these animals regardless of whether or not they had crossed state lines before arriving at the laboratory—correcting another restriction written into the original law.

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The amendments placed a greater emphasis on the welfare of animals enduring experimentation.

Most important (and perhaps most glaringly absent from the original law), the amendments placed a greater emphasis on the welfare of animals enduring experimentation. The bill called for the use of anesthetics and tranquilizers for the first time.

1976 amendment

Another wave of public outcry—this time sparked by the extreme violence of dogfighting— catapulted the Animal Welfare Act once more into public hearings. The 1976 amendment criminalized the interstate transport of animals destined for fighting. The amendment also outlined specific requirements regarding the ways animals were to be transported for any purpose, requiring them to be provided with food, water, rest, and other measures to ensure improved handling and treatment.

1985 amendment

One of the co-founders of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) conducted undercover investigations inside a laboratory, documenting multiple violations of the Animal Welfare Act, particularly concerning monkeys. The highly-publicized investigation eventually led to the 1985 amendment of the Animal Welfare Act, which was passed as part of the Farm Bill that year. The amendment brought significant changes to the act, including:

• Psychological welfare for primates in laboratories
• Exercise for dogs in laboratories
• Expanding the jurisdiction of the Animal Welfare Act to encompass captive animals on exhibit in zoos and marine mammals held in aquariums
• Creation of Institutional Animal Care and Use Committees, overseeing animal care and exploring animal alternatives wherever possible
• Giving more teeth to USDA investigations and fines

1990 amendment

The 1990 amendment placed the focus again on stolen cats and dogs winding up in laboratories. Despite the Animal Welfare Act’s initial attempt to prevent pet thievery, the problem remained common. Animal dealers would steal pets from guardians or collect them from shelters using misleading or false information, then sell them to research labs. The amendment mandated that all cats and dogs remain at shelters for at least five days, allowing time for guardians to locate and claim lost pets.

2002 amendment

The 2002 amendment was an unfortunate step backward. The amendment excluded mice, rats, and birds from the definition of “warm-blooded animals” protected by the Animal Welfare Act. Not only is this inaccurate, since these species are warm-blooded, but the amendment excluded the very animals who are most frequently used in laboratory experiments, who desperately need protection.

2007 amendment

The 2007 amendment came in the form of the Animal Fighting Prohibition Act, which outlawed purchasing, selling, or possessing the knives that are attached to the legs of birds used in cockfighting.

2008 amendment

A few amendments to the Animal Welfare Act were included in public law 110-246: the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008. These amendments included increasing penalties (including fines) for violations of the Animal Welfare Act, and additional restrictions on animal fighting ventures, as well as restrictions on the imports of dogs for resale.

2013 amendment

The 2013 amendment to the Animal Welfare Act updated the definition of “exhibitor” to include anyone who derives income from exhibiting an animal—even if that income forms less than a substantial portion of their total income.

BUSINESSES AND ACTIVITIES WITHIN THE ANIMAL WELFARE ACT'S JURISDICTION

Any business or activity covered by the Animal Welfare Act is required to register and in some cases obtain a license from the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. While numerous businesses and activities are subject to the regulations set forth by the Animal Welfare Act, many remain exempt, even though the animals within these industries—for example, factory farms—are in dire need of regulatory oversight.

Animal dealers

Animal dealers are people who breed animals to sell them to various industries or individuals. Common types of animal dealers include those breeding and selling animals to laboratories, breeders of exotic or wild animals, and auction operators.

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Smaller-scale puppy mills can operate without meeting basic welfare standards.

There are many loopholes when it comes to animal dealers. Only those considered wholesale—large-scale commercial dealers, for example, that sell to pet stores—are required to abide by the Animal Welfare Act. Smaller-scale puppy mills frequently fall through the cracks of legislation and can operate without meeting basic welfare standards.

Exhibitors

An exhibitor is defined as any person or business that displays animals to the public in exchange for financial compensation. Any zoo, no matter the size—be it a national facility like the Smithsonian Zoo, or a roadside attraction such as a petting farm—is subject to the regulations of the Animal Welfare Act. Aquariums such as SeaWorld, which keep marine mammals such as dolphins and seals, also fall under the act’s jurisdiction.

There are certain glaring exceptions made for certain exhibitors. Retail pet stores that often source animals from puppy mills and other places that give rise to numerous welfare violations are exempt from the Animal Welfare Act. Livestock shows and rodeos, where animals often experience significant stress and injuries, are also exempt.

Transporters

Any commercial business that brings animals from one location to another is considered a transporter, including trucking companies, airline carriers, and train companies. Commercial transport requires that animals are provided with adequate ventilation, food, and water throughout their journey.

Research facilities

Research facilities covered by the Animal Welfare Act include laboratories carrying out medical research, those that conduct experiments to determine product or drug safety, and high school and college programs that make students dissect animals. Agricultural research facilities are among the exempted research facilities.

ENFORCEMENT

The USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service conducts spontaneous visits to licensed animal businesses to determine the extent to which the mandates of the Animal Welfare Act are being followed. Violations of any of the rules can result in fines, license suspension, and license revocation.

IS THE ANIMAL WELFARE ACT EFFECTIVE?

The Animal Welfare Act has been effective in curbing certain activities that result in serious welfare concerns, particularly when it comes to dog and cockfighting, and has improved the lives of some animals undergoing painful experiments. As with all welfare regulations, these laws entrench the use of animals rather than working to liberate them from painful, frightening scenarios. Welfare regulations, no matter how comprehensive, can minimize but never fully remove the distress during the experience of vivisection, for example, where surgery is performed on a living animal.

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The Animal Welfare Act leaves much to be desired.

The Animal Welfare Act leaves much to be desired in other ways. Because the law has yet to include farm animals within its purview, hundreds of thousands of animals are subjected to practices that many consider inhumane. Even in instances where blatant acts of animal cruelty are observed, the Animal Welfare Act cannot be invoked to aid in prosecutions, since farm animals are excluded from the act entirely. Problematic conditions on factory farms, such as the use of gestation crates or battery cages, remain unaffected by the act.

WHAT STILL NEEDS TO CHANGE?

The major omission of the Animal Welfare Act lies within its exclusion of numerous species from the purview of the law. In order to improve the welfare of the billions of animals who remain unprotected by federal legislation, the definition of “warm-blooded animal” should be expanded to include rats and mice—who languish and perish in laboratories by the millions each year—and farm animals, who endure conditions many people find increasingly unacceptable.

The Animal Welfare Act is considered an example of progressive legislation. However, the act’s shortcomings show just how far there is to go before animals are protected under the law. The Animal Welfare Act and its numerous amendments have always reflected public sentiment about animals and their treatment, meaning it could one day provide protections for animals on factory farms and other exploitative businesses. Even better, the law could become obsolete should animals be respected as sensitive, aware beings rather than being used for human consumption and entertainment.

To stand up for animal welfare, visit our Take Action page.