APHIS Factsheet

Animal Care February 2012

The Animal Welfare Act:

Research Facilities

The U.S. Congress passed the Animal Welfare Act 

(AWA) in 1966. Since then, the U.S. Department of 

Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has vigilantly enforced this Act 

to ensure the well-being of animals used in laboratory 

research. APHIS enforces standards for animal husbandry, recordkeeping, the review of research protocols, and veterinary care.

The AWA covers nearly all species of warmblooded 

animals used in research. An amendment to the AWA 

in 2002 excluded birds, mice of the genus Mus, and 

rats of the genus Rattus bred for use in research. The 

AWA does not regulate animals used in elementary or 

secondary education or farm animals used in agricultural research.

Animal Husbandry

Research facilities using regulated animals must 

register with APHIS and provide their animals with 

proper treatment and a healthy and safe environment. 

Research facilities must provide their animals with 

water and a balanced diet of wholesome food, clean 

and structurally sound housing that affords enough 

space for the animals to move comfortably, and protection from extremes of temperature and weather.

The AWA places additional requirements on facilities 

housing animals with special needs. For example, 

facilities with nonhuman primates must provide environmental enrichment, such as swings, toys, and regular 

interaction with other primates or a familiar caregiver. 

This enrichment enhances the primates’ psychological 

well-being. Facilities must also provide dogs with an 

opportunity for exercise and follow guidelines for the 

care and use of farm animals in nonagricultural studies.

Veterinary Care

To ensure that research facilities provide their animals 

with proper veterinary care, APHIS requires that they 

employ an attending veterinarian who is located on 

the premises or who makes regularly scheduled visits. 

The facility must also establish a program of veterinary 

care that includes procedures for the administration of 

vaccines, regular examinations, and the care of sick 

animals. Researchers using regulated animals must 

follow professionally accepted standards of humane 

treatment and use, which includes administering painrelieving medication or anesthesia for procedures that 

cause more than momentary pain or distress, unless 

withholding those agents is scientifically justified. Further, 

the program must include provisions for the humane 

euthanasia of animals, in accordance with American 

Veterinary Medical Association recommendations.

Recordkeeping

To ensure that cats and dogs used in research are 

obtained legally, APHIS requires that all dealers who 

sell animals to research facilities must breed the animals themselves or obtain them from other licensed 

dealers, pounds, or shelters. APHIS also requires 

research facilities and dealers to maintain detailed 

records indicating the source of their dogs and cats.

Review of Research Protocols

The AWA requires that each research facility establish an 

Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) 

to oversee the humane care and use of regulated 

animals. It is important that the IACUC consider the 

general public’s concerns for the welfare of animals 

used in research, as well as the needs of the facility. 

Therefore, the committee must be composed of at least 

three members, including a person unaffiliated with the 

facility and a veterinarian familiar with laboratory animal 

medicine.

One of the IACUC’s functions is to review research protocols to ensure that they comply with the AWA requirements. These requirements state that researchers must 

consider alternatives to procedures that may cause 

more than momentary or slight pain or distress to the 

animals. The IACUC must also ensure that activities do 

not unnecessarily duplicate previous experiments. 

Enforcement

APHIS officials inspect research facilities at least annually to ensure compliance with the AWA. On these 

unannounced inspections, APHIS officials review the 

facility’s animal enclosures and husbandry practices, 

programs of veterinary care, animal acquisition records, 

research protocols, and IACUC records. If the officials 

find any items that are not in compliance with the law, 

they document the items and give the facility a timeframe for correction, or, in cases of severe neglect or 

repeat violations, immediately initiate enforcement 

action. Such action can include monetary penalties, 

corrective cease-and-desist orders, or confiscation 

of the animals. APHIS may also consider innovative 
settlements for facilities that show an interest in improving conditions for their animals. 

Cooperative Efforts

The AWA stipulates that all laboratory personnel 

involved in research projects must receive training and 

instruction in humane care and handling of the species 

they work with, aseptic surgical techniques, the proper 

uses of anesthetics and tranquilizers, and the use of 

services available to provide information on alternatives 

to animal research.

To assist research facilities in this endeavor, Congress 

established the Animal Welfare Information Center (AWIC) 

at the National Agricultural Library in Beltsville, MD. 

AWIC conducts literature search workshops several 

times a year to educate researchers. The Web site is 

located at www.nal.usda.gov.awic. APHIS’ relationship 

with AWIC and the research community is a broadly 

supported effort to produce a searchable Internet database source on alternatives to animal experimentation. 

The Johns Hopkins University Center for Alternatives 

to Animal Testing manages the Web site, http://altweb.

jhsph.edu, to assist researchers.

USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer. 

United States Department of Agriculture • Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service • Safeguarding American Agriculture

Additional Information

For additional information on APHIS’ oversight of 

animals used in research, contact APHIS’ Animal Care 

headquarters at:

Animal Care, APHIS-USDA

4700 River Road, Unit 84

Riverdale, MD 20737-1234

Phone: (301) 851-3751

Fax: (301) 734-4978

Email: ace@usda.gov

Web page: www.aphis.usda.gov/animal_welfare