Federal Laws

Animal Welfare Act of 1966 as Amended
In 1966 the Animal Welfare Act was passed by the U.S. government, setting standards for the use of animals in biomedical research. This law was passed in response to an incident where a Dalmatian named Pepper disappeared. A family member identified the dog in a picture of dogs in an animal dealer’s truck. The family resorted to contacting members of Congress to assist in retrieving their dog. In the end, the family dog was sold to a hospital and used for research. Outraged by this incident, Congress passed the bill introduced to save Pepper, in order to prevent such future incidents.

The purpose of this bill was not to debate the merits of animal research, but to protect pet owners from such abuses as suffered by Pepper and Pepper’s family. The tenets of the bill required that dog and cat dealers, along with laboratories that purchase dogs and cats for research, be licensed and inspected by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Dealers and facilities were required to meet standards established by the Secretary of Agriculture for the humane treatment of animals.

This legislation might not have been passed at all since it met with much opposition. At the same time, however, an article was published in Life magazine that documented dealer abuses of dogs. The article included pictures by photographer Stan Wayman taken during a police raid of a dealer facility in Maryland. The public was outraged, and those opposing the legislation modified their resistance to seek the exclusion of research facilities. This modified opposition was not successful (http://www.aphis.usda.gov/about_aphis/history.shtml, July 2002).

The Animal Welfare Act as signed into law in 1966 authorized the Secretary of Agriculture to ?regulate transport, sale, and handling of dogs, cats, nonhuman primates, guinea pigs, hamsters, and rabbits intended to be used in research or ‘for other purposes.’ (http://www.nal.usda.gov/awic/legislat/usdaleg1.htm, July 2002)."