Animal Welfare Enforcement Improvement Act - United States

​worldanimalnews.com/breaking-the-animal-welfare-enforcement-improvement-act-is-reintroduced-to-help-increase-protection-of-animals-from-cruelty/

The Animal Welfare Enforcement Improvement Act (AWEIA) was reintroduced in the United States in an effort to improve the Animal Welfare Act by strengthening the licensing process for animal dealers / exhibitors. This improvement to the Animal Welfare Act is imperative in tackling the lackluster monitoring of animal dealers who are potentially committing animal abuses and maintaining their licensing. 

According to the Animal Welfare Institute, (AWI) research from 2016 - 2020 indicated that there was a 67% drop in Animal Welfare Act inspections where citations were documented and shockingly, a 90% drop in new investigations. Under the current Animal Welfare Act, licensees self-certify their businesses and current policies make it easy for these businesses to slip under the radar. Essentially, they could be exploiting or abusing animals and because of the lack of investigations, could easily receive their license renewal going unnoticed. This allows for too many instances of continued animal cruelty.

Under the new AWEIA, establishments like zoos, animal sanctuaries, marine-mammal parks, and some commercial dog-breeders, will be subject to investigations during the renewal process. The strengthening of the Animal Welfare Act will include some of the following provisions;

1. LICENSES - Establishments will be reviewed yearly before a renewed license would be established. New businesses would have only 2 chances to comply with regulations before a license would be issued. If they fail to comply, they must wait a year before they can reapply. Lastly, renewal would take into consideration non-compliance orders and would deny renewals to establishments that have a non-compliance in regard to the care of animals within the past 2 years.

Essentially, this will make it incredibly difficult for establishments that are currently manipulating, exploiting, or abusing animals to continue to operate. The investigation would determine if a business is complying with animal welfare standards PRIOR to issuing a license which will spare animals the agony of being exploited under the radar.

2. Preventing dealers / exhibitors from operating under a different business name or through a business partner during the period of suspension. Clearly, these business owners can currently get away with a name change or operating through a business partner after having been found to have violated the AWA. The new bill would make it incredibly difficult for these situations to occur.

3. Requiring the USDA to suspend the license of any dealer found to have violated the Animal Welfare Act and to permanently revoke the license if the business has committed multiple violations.

For a full list of what would be improved through the Animal Welfare Enforcement Improvement Act, follow the link at the top of this page to the original story. What this amendment shows us is that animal welfare is still struggling to be taken seriously. When we're creating bills that are aimed at strengthening lackluster protections already in place, it's indicative of a deep rooted issue. So many establishments that exploit or abuse animals continue to operate with little to no monitoring or investigating which allows them to continue to operate without any consequences for their violations. It's sickening to think of how many places were likely slipping under the radar, being issued licenses despite evidence of animal cruelty or exploitation.

I'll update y'all on this one as more information becomes available.

HAPPY VEG