The Animal Welfare Act (AWA) is a federal law that regulates the treatment of certain animals used in research, teaching, testing, exhibition, transport, or under the care of animal dealers.[1] The law requires that the USDA enact standards “to govern the humane handling, care, treatment, and transportation of animals by dealers, research facilities, and exhibitors.”[2] Specific guidance and standards are set out by the USDA in Parts 1, 2, & 3 in Title 9 of the Code of Federal Regulations.
Animal Welfare Act, 7 U.S.C. §§ 2131-2159
Animal Welfare Act, 7 U.S.C. § 2143(a)
No. The law does not cover animals raised for food.
Originally called the Laboratory Animal Welfare Act and passed in 1966, the law was amended in 1972 to specifically exclude farmed animals.[1] The law excludes horses and “other farm animals (emphasis added), such as, but not limited to livestock or poultry, used or intended for use as food or fiber, or livestock or poultry used or intended for use for improving animal nutrition, breeding, management, or production efficiency, or for improving the quality of food or fiber.”[2]
In 2023, the USDA further amended the definition of farm animal to definitively exclude from AWA coverage “any domestic species of cattle, sheep, swine, goats, llamas, horses, or poultry, which are normally and have historically been kept and raised on farms in the United States and used or intended for use as food or fiber, or for improving animal nutrition, breeding, management, or production efficiency, or for improving the quality of food or fiber.”[3]
Wagman, B.A. et al., (2019) Animal Law: Cases and Material, Sixth Ed., Carolina Academic Press, p. 644.
Animal Welfare Act, 7 USC §2132(g), Transportation, Sale, and Handling of Certain Animals, Definitions.
9 CFR Chapter I Subchapter A § 1.1 Definitions Farm animal. [“This term also includes animals such as rabbits, mink, chinchilla, and ratites when they are used solely for purposes of meat, fur, feathers, or skin, and animals such as horses and llamas when used solely as work and pack animals.”]
The AWA is administered and enforced by the USDA Animal Care unit within the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS). Compliance is carried out by inspectors through pre-licensing inspections and unannounced compliance inspections. They also follow up on complaints from the public.[1]
USDA, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (2024) AWI Inspection and Annual Reports. https://www.aphis.usda.gov/awa/annual-inspection-reports