54 Years Afterwards, the Animal Welfare Human activity Fails to Protect Animals

  • Today marks 54 years of the Animal Welfare Act, the federal law regulating the handling of animals bred for commercial auction, used in research, transported commercially or exhibited to the public.
  • The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the federal agency responsible for enforcing this law, is failing to properly regulate puppy mills—assuasive inhumane, cruel weather condition to persist.
  • You tin assistance hold the USDA answerable by signing our petition urging the agency to truly protect the animals under its oversight.

Nosotros have been fighting against puppy mill cruelty for decades. Unfortunately, the federal law charged with protecting dogs in puppy mills—the Fauna Welfare Act (AWA)—isn't strong enough to do the job it'due south meant to do. To make matters worse, the U.Southward. Section of Agriculture (USDA)—the federal agency charged with enforcing this law—has all just dismissed its responsibleness to the animals under its oversight.

The AWA was signed into law on August 24, 1966. It was the beginning federal law to regulate the handling of animals in laboratories, zoos and the pet trade (including commercial breeding). Despite significant changes in our cultural and academic understanding of what animals need and deserve, only modest changes take been fabricated to the AWA over the by 54 years.

The AWA currently outlines notoriously weak standards of care for dogs in commercial breeding facilities (a.k.a. puppy mills). Under current regulations, USDA-licensed puppy breeders can legally keep dogs in small wire-floored cages—stacked on top of one another—for their unabridged lives. Female dogs can be forced to breed during every heat cycle, with no opportunities for their bodies to recover.

The USDA oversees the licensing and inspection of puppy mills to ensure they comply with the AWA'due south extremely depression standards. When breeders violate these standards, the USDA is responsible for initiating enforcement actions against the licensee. However, the USDA ordinarily chooses to accept no action at all.

Bereft laws, coupled with the USDA'southward neglectful enforcing of its bare-bones welfare regulations, has proven to exist a recipe for massive animal suffering. The ASPCA will continue to advocate for federal-level changes and piece of work through the courts to hold the USDA and those who violate existing laws accountable. Nosotros will as well go along to work with our partners at the state and local levels to preclude the cruel practices tolerated by the USDA from affecting their communities.

The AWA is over a half-century old and has non kept footstep with our changing times, and the USDA is failing vulnerable animals. You can speak upwards by signing our petition urging the USDA to practise right by animals across the country.

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