Brooks Law Digest: Animal Welfare Act

Senate Bill 4757, introduced by Democrat Senator Richard Durbin, proposes to add additional requirements for licensed dog dealers under the Animal Welfare Act. The full text of the bill is not yet available.

Senate Bill 4757, introduced by Democrat Senator Richard Durbin, proposes to add additional requirements for licensed dog dealers under the Animal Welfare Act. The full text of the bill is not yet available.

The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has proposed a rule altering information requirements under the Animal Welfare Act. The rule would remove the requirement that research facilities update their registration information every three years, remove the requirement of continual review of research animal use activities, remove the requirement that facilities request an inactive status, and remove the requirement that the Institutional Official or Chief Executive Officer sign the annual report. The agency is accepting comments on the proposed rule until November 16, 2020.

A new article published in Golden Gate University Environmental Law Journal critiques the implementation of the Animal Welfare Act in zoos and makes recommendations to improve animal welfare.

The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has announced it will hold three virtual public meetings to receive input on topics related to the development of regulations regarding the welfare of birds not bred for use in research. The virtual sessions will be held by webinar on September 29, October 7, and October 15, 2020.

Two cases stemming from 2017 when the United States Department of Agriculture removed Animal Welfare Act enforcement records from its website—an incident referred to as the USDA Blackout—have been settled. The settlement includes the agency’s commitment that it has restored and will continue to provide public access to the records at issue.

The New-England Anti-Vivisection Society and the Animal Legal Defense Fund, represented by the Harvard Animal Law & Policy Clinic, have filed suit against the United States Department of Agriculture, alleging that the agency’s rejection of their petition and requesting that the agency put into place appropriate psychological well-being standards for nonhuman primates as required by the Animal Welfare Act is unlawful under the Administrative Procedure Act."

A federal judge has ordered the United States Department of Agriculture to complete rulemaking for care standards for birds not bred for research under the Animal Welfare Act. The order results from a lawsuit brought by the American Anti-Vivisection Society and the Avian Welfare Coalition.

Cetacean experts and animal welfare groups will appeal the dismissal of a federal lawsuit that challenged the National Marine Fisheries Service’s decision not to enforce a permit condition requiring SeaWorld to release the necropsy report of an orca whale named Tilikum.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals has filed suit against Tri-State Zoological Park, alleging that the roadside zoo’s neglect of animals violates federal and state law and constitutes a public nuisance.