Policy: The Animal Wlfare Act

Like humans, animals have rights too. Back in the old days, animals didn’t have any rights because some people thought they had no feelings of pain. Scientist used them in experiments because of this theory. It came to the point where animals, especially cats and dogs, who were homeless, unwanted, and even sheltered were sent to research institutes (Monamy 29). Monkeys also started getting attention from scientists. Many animals used for these experiments were being mistreated. Many humane groups were furious and started taking action. The Laboratory Animal Welfare Act was enacted in 1966 due to two

Although animal testing in the United States is regulated by the AWA, this act does not supervise experiments on animals; thus, many animals are abused. While acting as

Animals endure so much pain and suffering when being tested on. In some cases, animal testing can be deadly or lead to serious side effects that will forever stick with the animal that was tested on. Animals hardly ever, to never benefit from testing. In research and testing, animals are subjected to experiments that can include everything from testing new drugs to infecting with diseases, poisoning for toxicity testing, burning skin, causing brain damage, implanting electrodes into the brain, maiming, blinding, and other painful and invasive procedures (NEAVS). It can include protocols that cause severe suffering. Also, can’t forget about the restricted living conditions where animals are forced to live in an unhealthy habitat out of their own element during the testing period. Animals in labs suffer not only pain from protocols, but also severe stress from day-to-day laboratory life. They spend their lives in barren cages, unable to make choices or express natural behaviors. Most never experience fresh air or sunshine, only bars and concrete. Although most think that the Animal Welfare Act protects animals from abuse, it is a common misconception that the AWA protects animals against abuse and harm in the laboratory or in other areas of commerce. This is not true. According to the National Anti-Vivisection Society the AWA regulates the use of animals in research and outlines standards for their care, it does not protect

Under the Illinois Animal Control Act, Castro is likely to be considered liability for Bevers’ injuries.

Before 1966, almost of animals, family pets as well, were being taken away by thieves and burglars because a lot of laboratories were paying others to do the messed up dirty work all so they could test on them with all sorts of chemicals. Between 1908-1973, President Lyndon B. Johnson saw this and the heard cries and sorrow of the people and didn’t agree with what was going on. On August 24th, 1966 President Johnson created a nameless act in order to ensure and protect the animals that were being wrongfully used in an inhumane way.

They experience ongoing mental and physical suffering from the endless boredom, confinement, fear, and emotional stress of daily laboratory life. Add to this the fear and agony of a procedure, and only then can we start to understand the desperation and pain in which they live, every day—and for most, for their entire lives. The Animal Welfare Act (AWA) is the only federal law that provides even minimal protection for animals in laboratories. (The federal Public Health Service's (PHS) Policy on the Humane Care and Use of Laboratory Animals covers animals in NIH-funded research, but the PHS does not conduct inspections itself. Instead, it relies on institutions to inspect their own labs.) However, it specifically excludes rats, mice, and birds bred for research, who constitute 90-95 percent of animals in labs. For the approximately 10 percent of warm-blooded animals in labs who are covered under the AWA, the law covers husbandry only—meaning specific standards for their housing, feeding, and handling, including veterinary care. It does not prohibit any kind of experiment regardless of the amount of pain or distress it might cause. Instead, it requires oversight committees (called Institutional Animal Care and Use Committees, or IACUCs) to review and

“Its enforcement is delegated to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, whose inspectors make unannounced site visits to research facilities” (Latham). This brings up the first loophole in the act because these “unannounced site visits” are not as common as they should be. One pet shop may only be visited once a year which is clearly not enough to deem the establishment law abiding. Secondly, the Animal Welfare Act of 1966 doesn’t protect all animals, but rather a small group of animals. Latham states, “it contains special regulations addressed to certain animal favorites: dogs, cats, rabbits, and monkeys…But in fact the law has never reached the bulk of warm-blooded animals actually used in research”. This seems contradictive to me. Why would you protect only a handful of animals but not the ones most prominently used in testing such as chimpanzees, rats, and guinea pigs? I believe the Animal Welfare Act of 1966 needs to be amended once again to improve its blanket of coverage and increase site visits.

If the argument is that animals are being used for testing medicines because they are similar to human beings, shouldn’t the logic follow that because they are so similar to human beings and in need, we should care for them as well. Although, this is generally not the case. Researchers justify their experiments using the Animal Welfare Act or AWA saying that because of this act there are laws in place to stop the mistreatment of animals. Unfortunately, for some animals used in experimentation such as rats, mice, fish, and birds which make up roughly ninety-five percent of all animals used, they are not protected under this act. According to the Animal Welfare Act in 2016 they covered 820,812 animals (APHIS), which means there were about twenty-five million animals that were not covered by the AWA. Because of this lack of coverage, these animals are more likely to be abused and mistreated since they lack basic protection. Due to the new guidelines in the UK researchers like Thomas Genarelli won’t be able to continue their abuse.

B. PETA states that “mice, rats, birds and cold blooded animals … make up more than 95 percent of animals used in experiments…” 1. The Animal Welfare Act does not cover these animals, so their lives, and the amounts of them lost, are often unknown, as a result. (Transition: Let us summarize what we have just discussed involving animal testing). (Action) Conclusion I. Summary: A. You now know that hundreds of millions of animals annually are forced to endure cruel acts of chemical, toxicity, biological, medical etc.. testing, and are then killed and examined; tax dollars and lottery ticket purchases help to fund this

Another adverse affect of animals being used for testing and research purposes is that the experiments are very expensive because the animals must be fed, given shelter, and properly cared for. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) enforces the Animal Welfare Act (AWA) to protect certain animals from inhumane treatment and neglect ("United States

Although, the Animal Welfare Act has not succeeded in preventing horrific cases of animal abuse in research laboratories. The animal welfare law is the only Federal law in the United States that regulates the treatment of animals in research, exhibition, transport, and by dealers. An article from ProCon.org states, “The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) found 338 possible violations of the Animal Welfare Act at the federally funded New Iberia Research Center (NIRC) in Louisiana.” Testing medical treatments on animals puts the animals in danger for results that are not

Research facilities also have very few restrictions on lab workers. The Animal Welfare Act does not give the facilities any restraints for their employees. “No legal requirements for researchers to consider alternatives to their use, nor provide them with relief from the pain, distress, or even the most basic slanderers of care.”(Neavas1) “Though most are qualified scientists, they do not have to provide a quality of care which is inhumane to the animal.” (Neavas 2) The laboratories that these animals are stuck in may be unsafe and unclean. The animals live in small, dark cages and are forced to live that way their entire lives. Animals should be able to ram free and should not be kept locked away in cages until they are needed. “Under the Animal Welfare Act, research institutions are required to establish an Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee “to oversee and evaluate all aspects of the institution’s care and use program.”(Neavs1) “While the United States Department of Agriculture and the Animal Welfare Act and Institutional Animal Care and Use systems purport to ensure” humane “treatment of animals in labs, the system is plagued with loopholes that leave animals

Every year, more than 100 million animals are poisoned, crippled, burned, or abused in United States labs alone. The Animal Welfare Act, or AWA, was passed in 1966 and is the only federal law in the U.S. today that regulates animal treatment in research. That being said, the AWA is not heavily enforced. Additional, the regulations it includes are extremely minimal and do not protect any type of reptiles, amphibians, rats, mice, or birds, meaning that more than ninety percent of the animals being tested on are still submitted to painful and torturous tests. These tests often result in a lifetime of pain and damage because after the tests, the animals are placed back in their cages without any medical treatment and are often used in further

Most of the animals use in research are not protected by the Animal Welfare Act. Those animals like birds and mice are not protected because for the federal law, these animals are not in the animal category. The worst part of this is that those animals that are not protected are the ones most often used for testing. This animals are tortured in many ways and law does not do anything to protect them. In fact, even the animals that are protected by the AWA are harmed. They are exposed to a lot of harmful procedures. It have been cases were the same animals harm their selves due to all the stress they have to pass by. Imagine how much stress one need to be to be able to cause pain to itself.

The testing that occurs in animal laboratories appeals to our emotion because of the cruelty that is involved. This is not the only reason for concern. The current conditions of the treatment and facilities are not acceptable. This is a violation of the Animal Welfare Act of 1996 (97). This law was established to protect animals from inhumane treatment of research animals 97). Inhumane treatment is the torture that occurs everyday, as animals for forced into tests that determine the safety of cosmetic products.