Animal Welfare Act

7 U.S.C. 2131 et seq. · USDA APHIS Animal Care

The federal law that licenses and inspects the people who breed, deal in, exhibit and research dogs in the United States, and sets the minimum standards they must keep.

01 What It Is

The Animal Welfare Act is the federal statute governing the treatment of certain animals in the United States, signed into law in 1966 and enforced by the Department of Agriculture through its Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. Rather than govern how every owner treats a pet, it regulates the businesses and institutions that handle animals commercially or in research, which for dogs means breeders, dealers, exhibitors and laboratories.

02 What It Covers

The Act works through licensing and registration. Commercial breeders, dealers who buy and sell animals, and exhibitors must hold a licence, while research facilities and transporters must register. All are held to federal standards covering humane handling, housing and space, feeding and water, sanitation, shelter from extremes of weather, and adequate veterinary care, with the detailed requirements set out in the federal animal-welfare regulations.

03 How It Is Checked

Compliance is checked by APHIS field inspectors, who make periodic unannounced visits to licensed and registered sites. A facility that falls short can face further inspections, and persistent or serious breaches can bring penalties and the loss of a licence. Because the visits are unannounced, they are meant to capture how a premises runs day to day rather than how it presents when a visit is expected.

04 Why It Matters

For dogs bred or held commercially in the United States, this is the federal floor beneath them. It is the law that makes a large-scale breeding kennel inspectable at all, and the standard against which a substandard operation can be acted upon. Its reach stops at regulated businesses rather than private homes, but within that reach it is the backbone of commercial dog regulation nationwide.

Primary sources

Animal Care, the enforcing agency, USDA APHISaphis.usda.gov
Animal Welfare Act, USDA National Agricultural Librarynal.usda.gov
Animal Welfare Act, 7 U.S.C. Chapter 54 (US Code)govinfo.gov