ANIMAL WELFARE ACT
as amended
(7 U.S.C. ¤¤ 2131 et. seq.)
Section 1.
(a) This Act may be cited as the "Animal Welfare Act".
(b) The Congress finds that animals and activities which are regulated
under this Act are either in interstate or foreign commerce or substantially
affect such commerce or the free flow thereof, and that regulation of animals
and activities as provided in this Act is necessary to prevent and eliminate
burdens upon such commerce and to effectively regulate such commerce, in
order-- (1) to insure that animals intended for use in research facilities
or for exhibition purposes or for use as pets are provided humane care
and treatment; (2) to assure the humane treatment of animals during transportation
in commerce; and (3) to protect the owners of animals from the theft of
their animals by preventing the sale or use of animals which have been
stolen.
The Congress further finds that it is essential to regulate, as provided
in this Act, the transportation, purchase, sale, housing, care, handling,
and treatment of animals by carriers or by persons or organizations engaged
in using them for research or experimental purposes or for exhibition purposes
or holding them for sale as pets or for any such purpose or use. The Congress
further finds that-- (1) the use of animals is instrumental in certain
research and education for advancing knowledge of cures and treatment for
diseases and injuries which afflict both humans and animals; (2) methods
of testing that do not use animals are being and continue to be developed
which are faster, less expensive, and more accurate than traditional animal
experiments for some purposes and further opportunities exist for the development
of these methods of testing; (3) measures which eliminate or minimize the
unnecessary duplication of experiments on animals can result in more productive
use of Federal funds; and (4) measures which help meet the public concern
for laboratory animal care and treatment are important in assuring that
research will continue to progress.
.....
e) The term "research facility" means any school (except an elementary
or secondary school), institution, organization, or person that uses or
intends to use live animals in research, tests, or experiments, and that
(1) purchases or transports live animals in commerce, or (2) receives funds
under a grant, award, loan, or contract from a department, agency, or instrumentality
of the United States for the purpose of carrying out research, tests, or
experiments...
(f) The term "dealer" means any person who, in commerce, for compensation
or profit, delivers for transportation, or transports, except as a carrier,
buys, or sells, or negotiates the purchase or sale of, (1) any dog or other
animal whether alive or dead for research, teaching, exhibition, or use
as a pet, or (2) any dog for hunting, security, or breeding purposes, except
that this term does not include (i) a retail pet store except such store
which sells any animals to a research facility, an exhibitor, or a dealer;
or (ii) any person who does not sell, or negotiate the purchase or sale
or any wild animal, dog, or cat and who derives no more than $500 gross
income from the sale of other animals during any calendar year;
(g) The term "animal" means any live or dead dog, cat, monkey (nonhuman
primate mammal), guinea pig, hamster, rabbit, or such other warm-blooded
animal, as the Secretary [that is, the Secretary of Agricolture] may determine
is being used, or is intended for use, for research, testing, experimentation,
or exhibition purposes or as a pet; but such term excludes horses not used
for research purposes and other farm animals, 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 improving animal nutrition, breeding,
management or production efficiency, or for improving the quality of food
or fiber. With respect to a dog the term means all dogs including those
used for hunting, security, or breeding purposes;
(h) The term "exhibitor" means any person (public or private) exhibiting
any animals, ... and such term includes carnivals, circuses, and zoos exhibiting
such animals whether operated for profit or not; but such term excludes
retail pet stores, organizations sponsoring and all persons participating
in State and country fairs, livestock shows, rodeos, purebred dog and cat
shows, and any other fairs or exhibitions intended to advance agricultural
arts and sciences, as may be determined by the Secretary;
.....
Section 13. (a)
(1) The Secretary shall promulgate standards to govern the humane handling,
care, treatment, and transportation of animals by dealers, research facilities,
and exhibitors.
(2) The standards described in paragraph (1) shall include minimum
requirements...for handling, housing, feeding, watering, sanitation, ventilation,
shelter from extremes of weather and temperatures, adequate veterinary
care, and separation by species where the Secretary finds necessary for
humane handling, care, or treatment of animals;....
(3) In addition to the requirements under paragraph (2), the standards
described in paragraph (1) shall, with respect to animals in research facilities,
include requirements-- (A) for animal care, treatment, and practices in
experimental procedures to ensure that animal pain and distress are minimized,
including adequate veterinary care with the appropriate use of anesthetic,
analgesic or tranquilizing drugs, or euthanasia; (B) that the principal
investigator considers alternatives to any procedure likely to produce
pain or distress in an experimental animal; (C) in any practice which could
cause pain to animals- (i) that a doctor of veterinary medicine is consulted
in the planning of such procedures; (ii) for the use of tranquilizers,
analgesics, and anesthetics; (iii) for presurgical and postsurgical care
by laboratory workers in accordance with established veterinary medical
and nursing procedures; (iv) against the use of paralytics without anesthesia;
and (v) that the withholding of tranquilizers, anesthesia, analgesia, or
euthanasia when scientifically necessary shall continue for only the necessary
period of time;
(D) that no animal is used in more than one major operative experimenta
from which it is allowed to recover except in cases of--(i) scientific
necessity; or (ii) other special circumstances as determined by the Secretary;
...
(6)(A) Nothing in this Act--(i) except as provided in paragraph (7)
of this subsection, shall be construed as authorizing the Secretary to
promulgate rules, regulations, or orders with regard to design, outlines,
guidelines or performance of actual research or experimentation by a research
facility as determined by such research facility;
...
(7) (A) The Secretary shall require each research facility to show
upon inspection, and to report at least annually, that the provisions of
this Act are being followed and that professionally acceptable standards
governing the care, treatment, and use of animals are being followed by
the research facility during actual research or experimentation.
(B) In complying with subparagraph (A), such research facilities shall
provide--(i) information on procedures likely to produce pain or distress
in any animal and assurances demonstrating that the principal investigator
considered alternatives to those procedures; (ii) assurances satisfactory
to the Secretary that such facility is adhering to the standards described
in this section; and (iii) an explanation for any deviation from the standards
promulgated under this section.
(8) ... (b)(1) The Secretary shall require that each research facility
establish at least one Committee. Each Committee shall be appointed by
the chief executive officer of each such research facility....Of the members
of the Committee...at least one member shall be a doctor of veterinary
medicine; at least one member... shall not be affiliated in any way with
such facility... [and] ...is intended to provide representation for generaly
community interests in the proper care and treatment of animals...
....
Section 26.
(a) It shall be unlawful for any person to knowingly sponsor or exhibit
an animal in any animal fighting venture to which any animal was moved
in interstate or foreign commerce.
(b) It shall be unlawful for any person to knowingly sell, buy, transport,
or deliver to another person or receive from another person for purposes
of transportation, in interstate or foreign commerce, any dog or other
animal for purposes of having the dog or other animal participate in an
animal fighting venture.
(c) It shall be unlawful for any person to knowingly use the mail service
of the United States Postal Service or any interstate instrumentality for
purposes of promoting or in any other manner furthering an animal fighting
venture except as performed outside the limits of the States of the United
States.
(d) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a), (b), or (c) of
this section, the activities prohibited by such subsections shall be unlawful
with respect to fighting ventures involving live birds only if the fight
is to take place in a State where it would be in violation of the laws
thereof...
(g) for purposes of this section..... the term "animal" means any live
bird, or any live dog or other mammal, except man.
The USDA, following the requirements of the AWA, produced regulations. It also clarified the meaning of "animal" in the following way:
"Animal means any live or dead dog, cat, nonhuman primate, guinea pig, hamster, rabbit, or any other warmblooded animal, which is being used, or is intended for use for research, teaching, testing, experimentation, or exhibition purposes, or as a pet. This term excludes: Birds, rats of the genus Rattus and mice of the genus Mus bred for use in research, and horses not used for research purposes and other farm animals, 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. With respect to a dog, the term means all dogs, including those used for hunting, security, or breeding purposes."
ILLINOIS COMPILED STATUTES
CHAPTER 510. ANIMALS
ACT 70. HUMANE CARE FOR ANIMALS ACT
70/3.02. Aggravated cruelty
§ 3.02. Aggravated cruelty. No person may intentionally commit an act that causes a companion animal to suffer serious injury or death. Aggravated cruelty does not include euthanasia of a companion animal through recognized methods approved by the Department of Agriculture.
MISSOURI STATUTES
TITLE XXXVIII. CRIMES AND PUNISHMENT; PEACE OFFICERS AND PUBLIC DEFENDERS
CHAPTER 578. MISCELLANEOUS OFFENSES
578.009. Animal neglect--penalties
1. A person is guilty of animal neglect when he has custody or ownership or both of an animal and fails to provide adequate care or adequate control, including, but not limited to, knowingly abandoning an animal in any place without making provisions for its adequate care which results in substantial harm to the animal.
2. Animal neglect is a class C misdemeanor upon first conviction and for each offense, punishable by imprisonment or a fine not to exceed five hundred dollars, or both, and a class B misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment or a fine not to exceed one thousand dollars, or both upon the second and all subsequent convictions. All fines and penalties for a first conviction of animal neglect may be waived by the court provided that the person found guilty of animal neglect shows that adequate, permanent remedies for the neglect have been made. Reasonable costs incurred for the care and maintenance of neglected animals may not be waived.